Zhou J, Diao X, Wang S, et al. - In non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), researchers assessed the clinical diagnostic value of combined serum ferritin (SF), carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA) and C-reactive protein (CRP). Participants were 70 patients with NSCLC, 50 patients with benign lung disease, and 50 healthy people. Via ELISA, serum levels of SF, CEA and CRP were ascertained. Compared to the benign lung disease group and the control group, serum levels of SF, CEA and CRP were significantly higher in the NSCLC group. For diagnosis of NSCLC, the best diagnostic value was displayed by CRP when the serum CEA, SF and CRP levels were employed alone. An area under the curve of 0.795, and diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of 81.8% and 66.8%, respectively, were reported. The combination of these three factors yielded an area under the curve of 0.890 as well as a sensitivity and specificity of 80.3% and 82.5%, respectively. Based on these data, experts concluded that an improved early diagnostic sensitivity of NSCLC could be afforded by the combined detection of serum SF, CEA and CRP, and could serve as a possible diagnostic method for NSCLC.