Neuron-specific enolase (NSE) is an enzyme that is found in the cytoplasm of neurons and neuroendocrine cells. The production of NSE occurs late in neural differentiation, thus making NSE an index of neural maturation.
NSE can be particularly useful in the assessment of patients with high-grade, poorly differentiated tumors.
A number of NETs are considered to be “nonfunctioning” in that they do not produce elevated serum concentrations of substances that cause endocrine symptoms. NSE is similar to chromogranin A (CgA) in that it can serve as a general neuroendocrine tumor marker that can be of clinical value in in the assessment of non-functioning tumors.
Measurement of serum NSE has been applied to the assessment of neuronal injury and the estimation of brain damage in conditions including: ischemic stroke, intracerebral hemorrhage, seizure, after cardiopulmonary resuscitation for cardiac arrest and in traumatic brain injury.
Understand and improve your laboratory results with our health dashboard.
Upload your lab reports and get your interpretation today.
Our technology helps to understand, combine, track, organize, and act on your medical lab test results.
Increased serum levels of NSE may occur in patients with of neuroendocrine tumors (NETs).
Serum NSE levels are often elevated in patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) and NSE levels are applied as a biomarker for disease staging and monitoring.
NSE levels have been shown to correlate with tumor burden, number of metastatic sites and response to treatment in SCLC.
A meta-analysis of 11 studies determined that SCLC patients with higher levels of NSE had a poorer prognosis than those with lower levels of NSE.
Increased levels of NSE have been also reported in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Differentiation between SCLC and NSCLC can have prognostic and therapeutic value, due to the dissimilar behavior of these malignancies.
Raised serum levels of NSE have been found in patients with neuroblastoma, especially in widespread and metastatic disease, with high serum levels correlated with significantly worse outcome in terms of disease-free survival.
Increased serum NSE levels have also been observed in patients with diverse conditions including: melanoma, seminoma, renal cell carcinoma, Merkel cell tumor, carcinoid tumors, dysgerminomas and immature teratomas, malignant pheochromocytoma, Guillain-Barrésyndrome and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Interpret Your Lab Results
Upload your lab report, and we'll interpret and provide you with recommendations today.
Get Started
Monthly plan
Annual plan
Own it for life
Our exclusive data entry service is a convenient way to get your results into your private dashboard. Simply attach an image or a file of your lab test results, and one of our qualified data entry team members will add the results for you. We support all sorts of files, whether PDFs, JPGs, or Excel. This service is excellent whether you have a lot of reports to upload or are too busy to do the data entry yourself.
We strive to make the data entry process easy for you. Whether by offering dozens of templates to choose from that pre-populate the most popular laboratory panels or by giving you instant feedback on the entered values. Our data entry forms are an easy, fast, and convenient way to enter the reports yourself. There is no limit on how many lab reports you can upload.
$15 /month
billed every month
Most popular
Data entry included
$79 /year
$6.60/month billed annually
Data entry included
$250 /once
own it for life
Are You a Health Professional?
Get started with our professional plan
Welcome to Healthmatters Pro.
Save time on interpreting lab results with the largest database of biomarkers online. In-depth research on any test at your fingertips, all stored and tracked in one place. Learn more
Pro Monthly Plus
for health professionals
$75 per month
At HealthMatters, we're committed to maintaining the security and confidentiality of your personal information. We've put industry-leading security standards in place to help protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of the information under our control. We use procedural, physical, and electronic security methods designed to prevent unauthorized people from getting access to this information. Our internal code of conduct adds additional privacy protection. All data is backed up multiple times a day and encrypted using SSL certificates. See our Privacy Policy for more details.
21-Hydroxylase Antibodies, Acetylcholine Receptor Ganglionic (Alpha 3) AB, Adamts13 Activity, Alpha 2 Antiplasmin, Ana Pattern, AnaChoice Screen, Arachidonic Acid, B2 GLYCOPROTEIN I (IGA)AB, B2 GLYCOPROTEIN I (IGG)AB, B2 GLYCOPROTEIN I (IGM)AB, Beta 2 Transferrin, CARNITINE ESTERS, Chromogranin A (CgA), COPEPTIN, Cortisol, Free, Urine, CORTISOL,FREE,LC/MS,S, DNA Ab (ds) Crithidia, IFA, EPA/ARACHIDONIC ACID Ratio, ESTERIFIED/FREE RATIO, ESTRADIOL (Quest), GLUCOSE-6-PHOSPHATE DEHYDROGENASE, Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase 65 AB, Helicobacter Pylori, Urea Breath Test, Hexagonal Phase Confirm, HISTAMINE RELEASE (CHRONIC URTICARIA), HISTAMINE, PLASMA, IGF 1, LC/MS, IMMUNOGLOBULIN M, Immunoglobulin Subclass 4, LH, Lithium, LKM-1 Antibody (IgG), LUPUS ANTICOAGULANT, Metanephrine, Free, Mutated Citrullinated Vimentin (MCV) Ab, Neuron Specific Enolase (NSE), Normetanephrine, Free, NT PROBNP, OMEGA 3 (EPA+DHA) INDEX, OMEGA 6/OMEGA 3 Ratio, Parathyroid Hormone, intact, PARTIAL THROMBOPLASTIN TIME, ACTIVATED, PREGNENOLONE, LC/MS, PROGESTERONE, LC/MS, PROSTAGLANDIN D2 (PG D2), URINE, Prostaglandin E2, Serum/Plasma, PROSTAGLANDINS (PG D2), SERUM/PLASMA, PROSTAGLANDINS: (PLASMA/SERUM), PROTHROMBIN ANTIBODY (IGG), Ribosomal P Antibody, Soluble Liver Antigen (SLA) Autoantibody, T3 REVERSE, LC/MS/MS, T3, FREE, Total Glutathione, Total, Free (MN+NMN), TRYPTASE, TSI - Thyroid-Stimulating Immunoglobulin, Serum, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF), Z SCORE (FEMALE), Z SCORE (MALE)
