Turk Arch Pediatr. 2026 Mar 23;61(5):438-443. doi: 10.65717/TurkArchPediatr.2026.25309.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Serum Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6) level increases in interstitial lung disease and lung cancer. The present study investigated whether there was an increase in serum KL-6 levels in patients with bone sarcoma who were considered positive for lung metastasis.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Serum samples were collected from patients diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma and osteosarcoma before starting chemotherapy. The samples were frozen and stored at -80°C, and serum KL-6 level was measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
RESULTS: Serum samples of 47 patients and 42 healthy volunteers were evaluated. At the time of diagnosis, 10 patients had pulmonary tumor metastasis. Patients were followed up for a median of 43 months (1-125 months). At the time of diagnosis, the median KL-6 level of patients with lung metastases was 38.15 U/mL (10.6-155.6 U/mL), while the KL-6 level of patients without lung metastases was 15.2 U/mL (10.7-188.3 U/mL). The difference between these 2 groups was borderline significant (P = .051). The median KL-6 value of the control group was 14.85 U/mL (10.3-188.6 U/mL). When the patients with lung metastasis at the time of diagnosis were compared with the healthy control group, the KL-6 level of the patients was statistically significantly higher than the control group (P = .017).
CONCLUSION: In this pilot study, it was found that serum KL-6 levels were elevated in patients with lung metastasis at the time of diagnosis compared to healthy controls. Serum KL-6 level may be used as an additional parameter to detect pulmonary metastasis, and further studies are needed to confirm this observation.
PMID:42084889 | DOI:10.65717/TurkArchPediatr.2026.25309
