Plasma thrombosis-inducing activity in 120 patients with primary lung cancer

One hundred and twenty patients with primary lung cancer were examined for the presence of thrombosis-inducing activity (TIA) in their plasma. TIA was identified in plasma from 16 of 38 patients with stage 3 (42%) and 31 of 65 patients with stage 4 (48%) disease. On the other hand, only 1 of 17 patients with stages 1 and 2 (6%) showed TIA in their plasma. Cell type did not seem to correlate with the presence of plasma TIA, since TIA was identified in plasma from patients with all cell types. Survival of 32 patients with inoperable non-small cell lung cancer, all stage 4, was studied. The mean survival time was 7.2 months in the TIA-positive group and 10.3 months in the TIA-negative group. This difference was statistically significant.