Detection of autoantibodies to livin and survivin in Sera from lung cancer patients

Using a cutoff value for positivity determined as the mean absorbance +2S.D. for healthy control samples, 19 of 37 lung cancer patients (51.3%) were positive for anti-livin antibodies. Of 31 samples from the same lung cancer patients, 18 (58.1%) were positive for anti-survivin antibodies. When sera from 31 lung cancer patients were assessed simultaneously by anti-survivin and anti-livin ELISAs. Twenty-one patients (71%) were positive for survivin, livin, or both. Intensity of anti-livin antibody responses did not correlate with intensity of anti-survivin responses. Like anti-survivin antibodies, anti-livin antibodies, thus, can be detected in many lung cancer patients. Testing for both antibodies together may prove useful in detecting lung cancer, but more extensive studies are needed to establish the clinical significance of anti-livin antibodies.