Serum MIC-1, LMTK-3 and IGFBP-7 levels in the prognosis of lung cancer treated with ablation combined with chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND: To explore the value of the serum levels of macrophage inhibitory factor 1 (MIC-1), lemur tyrosine kinase 3 (LMTK-3), and insulin-like growth factor binding protein 7 (IGFBP-7) in the prognosis assessment of patients with advanced lung cancer treated with ablation combined with chemotherapy. METHODS: 190 patients with advanced lung cancer who received care at this hospital between January 2022 and June 2024 were chosen to be part of the lung cancer group. The healthy control group consisted of 90 healthy individuals who attended the hospital and underwent physical tests during the same time period. Percutaneous microwave thermal ablation treatment was used to treat every patient with advanced lung cancer, and chemotherapy was administered within one week after treatment. The levels of serum MIC-1, LMTK-3, and IGFBP-7 before and after treatment, and before treatment, were compared between patients with different therapeutic effects in the lung cancer group and the healthy control group. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to examine the factors affecting patient prognosis and the efficacy of serum MIC-1, LMTK-3, and IGFBP-7 levels in predicting patient prognosis in patients with advanced lung cancer. RESULTS: Serum MIC-1 and LMTK-3 levels in the lung cancer group were substantially higher than those in the healthy control group both before and after therapy (P<0,05). Serum MIC-1 and LMTK-3 levels in the lung cancer group were significantly lower after therapy than before (P<0,05). The serum IGFBP-7 levels in the lung cancer group before and after treatment were significantly lower than those in the healthy control group (P<0,05). After treatment, the serum IGFBP-7 level in the lung cancer group was significantly higher than before treatment (P<0,05). Patients with lung cancer experienced 29 cases of stable response (SD)+ progressive response (PD) and 66 cases of complete response (CR)+ partial response (PR) following treatment. Those with SD + PD advanced lung cancer had significantly higher blood MIC-1 and LMTK-3 levels before treatment than those with CR+PR advanced lung cancer. The serum IGFBP-7 level of advanced lung cancer patients with SD+PD before treatment was significantly lower than that of advanced lung cancer patients with CR+PR. In patients with advanced lung cancer, elevated blood MIC-1 and LMTK-3 levels and lower IGFBP-7 levels before treatment were independent risk factors for death within a year following treatment (P<0,05). The combined detection of serum MIC-1, LMTK-3, and IGFBP-7 levels for predicting death within 1 year after treatment for advanced lung cancer had a sensitivity of 91.3%, a specificity of 95.8%, and an AUC of 0.974. Its AUC was significantly greater than that of MIC-1 (Z=2.378, P=0.017) and LMTK-3 (Z=2.897). The AUC was separately assessed for IGFBP-7 (Z=3.213, P=0.001). However, the AUCs for the three indicators did not differ significantly (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Important markers for assessing the effectiveness of chemotherapy and ablation in the treatment of advanced lung cancer are serum MIC-1, LMTK-3, and IGFBP-7. With the help of combination detection, the prognosis of patients with advanced lung cancer after therapy can be predicted.