Abstract
Non-small cell lung cancer remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide, and identifying molecular markers associated with tumor progression and metastasis is important for improving patient management. This study investigated serum ELMO-3 levels in patients with NSCLC and evaluated their relationship with clinicopathological characteristics. Serum samples from 50 NSCLC patients and 20 healthy controls were analyzed. ELMO-3 concentrations were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Statistical analyses included non-parametric group comparisons, receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression. The mean ELMO-3 level was 0.409 ± 0.543, which was used as the cutoff value to categorize patients into low- and high-ELMO-3 groups; 76% of patients were classified as low-ELMO-3 and 24% as high-ELMO-3. The results showed that serum ELMO-3 levels did not differ significantly between NSCLC patients and healthy controls and were not associated with metastatic status. However, a significant association was observed between ELMO-3 expression status and tumor histopathology. Survival analysis demonstrated that distant metastasis and radiotherapy were significantly associated with overall survival. In multivariate analysis, age, operability, distant metastasis, and serum ELMO-3 levels were identified as independent factors associated with survival. These findings suggest that circulating ELMO-3 may have potential prognostic relevance; however, the results should be interpreted with caution and require validation in larger, independent cohorts.