DIAGNOSTIC ACCURACY OF SERUM SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA ANTIGEN AND CARCINOEMBRYONIC ANTIGEN IN DETECTING NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY FROM SOKOTO, NORTHWESTERN NIGERIA
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Abstract
Background:
Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer incidence and cancer-related deaths globally. Late presentation, non-specific symptoms, and limited access to advanced imaging contribute to delayed diagnosis in Nigeria. Serum biomarkers such as squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC-Ag) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) have been associated with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but their diagnostic accuracy remains uncertain.
Objective:
To evaluate the diagnostic performance of serum SCC-Ag and CEA, individually and in combination, for detecting NSCLC.
Methods:
This prospective cross-sectional study recruited patients with suspected primary lung cancer at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, from February 2022 to February 2023. All participants underwent tissue biopsy and serum assays for SCC-Ag and CEA using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were computed.
Results:
Twenty-two patients completed the study; 16 (72.7%) had NSCLC. SCC-Ag demonstrated high sensitivity (93.8%) but low specificity (28.6%). CEA showed moderate sensitivity (50%) and specificity (42.8%). The combination of SCC-Ag and CEA achieved 100% sensitivity but only 42.9% specificity. All biomarkers had poor diagnostic accuracy, with AUC values below 0.7.
Conclusion:
Although SCC-Ag and combined biomarkers showed high sensitivity, their low specificity and poor overall accuracy limit their use for NSCLC diagnosis in clinical practice. Larger studies are recommended.
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