Abstract

INTRODUCTION

According to 2018 data, lung cancer is the most common cancer type with more than two million new cases worldwide and responsible for 18.4% of cancer-related deaths. Oxidative stress have a major role in every steps of carcinogenesis. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the thiol-disulfide balance, which can be considered as an indicator of antioxidant capacity, in NSCLC patients and to compare it with healthy controls.

METHODS

43 patients with advanced NSCLC and 50 healthy controls enrolled to study. Blood samples for the analysis of thiol-disulfide homeostasis were obtained at the time of diagnosis in patient group. Serum thiol and disulfide samples of the patient and control groups were measured by automatic spectrophotometric method. Clinical, radiological and laboratory features of the patients were recorded.

RESULTS

Natural thiol and total thiol levels were significantly lower in the patient group compared to the control group (p<0.001). There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of disulfide levels and disulfide / natural thiol ratio which was an indicator of antioxidant capacity. Median overall survival was determined to be 9.1 months (1.2 - 37.9 months). Thiol and disulfide levels had not an effect on survival, significantly.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Lower thiol level in patient group might be due to the increased usage for the elimination of ROS which contributes NSCLC pathogenesis. The amount of antioxidant thiol compounds that decrease in the process could be both the cause and the result of the ROS increase. The reason for disulfide values not increasing may be related to increased cell cycle.