Serum NSE is an acidic protease specific to neurons and neuroendocrine cells, a specific marker for neuroendocrine tumors such as neuroblastoma, medullary thyroid cancer and small cell lung cancer (70% elevated), and can be used for differential diagnosis, disease monitoring, efficacy evaluation and recurrence prediction. Major relevant tumors: small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and neuroblastoma. Other related tumors: lung adenocarcinoma, large cell lung cancer, and neurological cancer.
Normal value: normal human serum NSE level <16.3ng/mL Currently, NSE has been used as one of the important markers for small cell lung cancer. Clinical significance: 1. NSE levels in patients with small cell lung cancer are significantly higher than those in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) such as lung adenocarcinoma, lung squamous carcinoma, and large cell lung cancer, and can be used for differential diagnosis and monitoring the therapeutic effect of small cell lung cancer after radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and the NSE concentration gradually decreases to normal levels when treatment is effective and increases in serum NSE when recurrence occurs. The neuron-specific enolase is used to monitor the recurrence of small cell lung cancer 4 to 12 weeks earlier than the clinical determination of recurrence. 2. Neuron-specific enolase can also be used for the differential diagnosis of neuroblastoma and nephroblastoma, where the former has an abnormal increase in neuron-specific enolase and the latter has an insignificant increase, which is also of high clinical value for the early diagnosis of neuroblastoma. It can also be used to monitor the changes of neuroblastoma, evaluate the efficacy and predict recurrence. Serum NSE may also be increased in patients with neuroendocrine tumors, such as pheochromocytoma, islet cell tumor, medullary thyroid carcinoma, melanoma, and retinoblastoma. NSE is also present in normal red blood cells, and hemolysis of the sample can affect the measurement results. Therefore, special attention should be paid to avoid hemolysis when collecting blood and to separate the serum as soon as possible.