Biomarkers in medicine
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Biomarkers in medicine · Jun 2020
Krebs von den Lungen-6 as a biomarker for disease severity assessment in interstitial lung disease: a comprehensive review.
Aim: Interstitial lung diseases (ILD) are a group of lung disorders characterized by interstitial lung thickening. Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6) is a molecule that is predominantly expressed by damaged alveolar type II cells and it has been proposed as a potential biomarker of different ILD. ⋯ KL-6 levels differentiated between fibrotic ILD, such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis, and nonfibrotic lung disorders, including sarcoidosis and pulmonary alveolar proteinosis. Conclusion: KL-6 is predictive biomarker useful in the clinical management of ILD patients, in particular in patients with severe fibrotic lung disorders.