Blood biomarkers in adults with lymph node enlargement contribute to diagnostic significance of malignancy

Lymph node enlargement is a common presentation and has a possibility of malignancy like lymphoma that requires early diagnosis. This study aims to analyze the clinical characteristics of these patients and finds out useful predictors of malignant diseases. We retrospectively investigated 81 patients with lymph node enlargement between July 2, 2014 and May 17, 2016. The characteristics and laboratory findings were evaluated combining with the final diagnosis. The diagnoses were malignancy in 51 patients and benign lymphadenopathy in 30 patients. Increased beta2-microglobulin (B2M) (P = 0.012) was found to be associated with malignant diseases, and level of 3699.5 μg/L was used as a cut-off value to differentiate the malignancies from benign diseases, offering 63.4% sensitivity and 87.0% specificity. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) (P = 0.038) levels were significantly lower in malignant group, whose receiver operating characteristic curve showed that level of 1121.5 mg/dl had sensitivity and specificity as 58.5% and 82.6%. Moreover, through analysis of cytokines, we found interleukin-10 (IL-10) levels were elevated in malignant group compared with benign group. Serum B2M and IgG levels were concluded to be useful parameters for predicting malignancies. Besides, increased IL-10 levels indicated a higher risk of malignancy in some way.