Table 1. Patients’ characteristics.
| Parameters | Lung cancer | Benign lung disease | Healthy subjects |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of patients | 75 | 48 | 23 |
| Gender | |||
| Male | 41 | 23 | 6 |
| Female | 34 | 25 | 17 |
| Age, median [range] | 61 [34–80] | 53.5 [23–77] | 34 [22–54] |
| Clinical stage | |||
| I | 25 | – | – |
| II | 9 | – | – |
| III | 24 | – | – |
| IV | 10 | – | – |
| Uncertain | 7 | – | – |
| Pathological subtype | |||
| Adenocarcinoma | 45 | – | – |
| Squamous cell carcinoma | 15 | – | – |
| Small cell lung cancer | 3 | – | – |
| Others† | 6 | – | – |
| Uncertain | 6 | – | – |
†, other pathological subtypes included 3 non-small cell lung cancer not otherwise specified, 2 large cell carcinoma, and 1 neuroendocrine carcinoma.