Serum NGAL to Clinically Distinguish Cholangiocarcinoma from Benign Biliary Tract Diseases

Aim . To determine whether the serum level of NGAL can discriminate cholangiocarcinoma from benign biliary tract disease in patients. Methods . This study was performed according to a prospective-specimen-collection, retrospective-blinded-evaluation (PRoBE) design. A total of 50 cholangiocarcinoma and 50 benign biliary tract disease cases were randomly selected from a cohort of consecutive cases of biliary tract diseases. Their sera were measured for the levels of NGAL and the widely used serum cholangiocarcinoma marker, carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9). Results . The serum CA19-9 and NGAL levels were significantly elevated in cholangiocarcinoma patients (CA19-9: P < .001, NGAL: P < .001). The area under the curve (AUC) of a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis for the diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma of CA19-9 and NGAL was 0.81 and 0.79, respectively. Conclusion . The diagnostic accuracy of serum NGAL and CA19-9 makes them good candidates for use as biomarkers to discriminate cholangiocarcinoma patients from benign biliary tract disease patients.