Elevation of prostaglandin E2 in lung cancer patients with digital clubbing.

To test the hypothesis that digital clubbing in patients with lung cancer reflects elevated systemic levels of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), we quantified levels of the major urinary PGE2 metabolite in 29 patients with lung cancer with or without clubbing. We found that digital clubbing was associated with markedly elevated urinary levels of PGE2 metabolite. These findings highlight a potential role for PGE2 in the pathogenesis of digital clubbing. Furthermore, this result identifies a lung cancer subpopulation that may uniquely benefit from cyclooxygenase inhibition.