Figure 1.

Efficiency of lung cancer cell migration toward the chemotactic gradient generated by serum from patients with COPD and from healthy volunteers (Con).

Notes: Cancer cell motility was evaluated in two experimental systems, namely, through the PCM and through the BME (A). Migration of the cancer cells in reference to smoking status (B) and obstruction stage (C). The asterisks indicate a significant difference as compared with the control group. The experiment was performed with sera from 32 patients with COPD and from 32 healthy donors. The results are expressed as mean ± SEM.

Abbreviations: BME, basement membrane extract; Con, control; GOLD, Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease; PCM, polycarbonate membrane; RFU, relative fluorescence units; SEM, standard error of the mean.