Introduction: The diagnosis of brain metastasis and/or epilepsy
remains a challenge in neurological symptomatic and asymptomatic cancer
patients. Despite improved imagery and clinical approach, an early diagnosis
requires more tools. Neuron Specific Enolase (NSE) is a specific molecular
marker for mature nerve cells dosed at high levels in fetal and early postnatal
brain, and is also a tumor marker in some types of neuroendocrine tumors. This
is a two group, non-randomized study on sixty patients with breast cancer
diagnosis. The main objective was to document the potential contribution of the
NSE marker to the diagnosis of cerebral parenchyma metastasis. The second
objective was to determine the predictive value of this marker in relation with
the brain metastasis evolution. Patients and Methods: Patients with brain
metastasis (BM) were matched with patients with no brain metastasis (NBM),
using age and breast cancer subtype (luminal A, luminal B, triple negative,
HER2 positive), as matching factors. The NSE level was measured one time for
all the patients in the study—exceptions are detailed in the text. Results: Sixty breast cancer patients were included in the
study, 30 in each group. Twenty-one BM patients were matched with twenty-one
NBM patients. We observed a significantly increased level of the NSE in the BM
group with a median value of 48.4 ng/ml (min 21.0 to max 349.2) compared to a
median of 18.4 ng/ml (4.5 to 28.0) in NBM, P-value <0.001. Evidently
increased values of the NSE were also observed in the non matched patients. NSE standard value was inferior to 18 ng/mL according to our institution laboratory (Porte
de Hal Medical Analysis Laboratory, Brussels, Belgium). Conclusions: Data resulting from the above study
supports the contribution of NSE to the diagnosis of breast cancer brain
metastases, before MRI or sometimes CSF examination. As shown this marker could
become a tool of diagnosis of brain metastasis.
Cite this paper
Dumitrescu, C. , Ameye, L. , Latifyan, S. , Elali, Z. and Lossignol, D. (2017). Neuron Specific Enolase, a Biomarker of Breast Cancer Cerebral Metastasis. Open Access Library Journal, 4, e3414. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1103414.
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