High plasma D-dimer level is associated with decreased survival in patients with lung cancer: a meta-analysis

An elevated plasma D-dimer level indicates the activation of coagulation and fibrinolysis. Several studies suggested that high level of plasma D-dimer was associated with the prognosis of lung cancer. In the present study, we performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the relationship between plasma D-dimer level and the prognosis of lung cancer based on larger sample size. We retrieved the literature, assessed and selected the data, and performed the statistical analysis according to the RevMan 5.0 guidelines. Literature-based searching was guided to gather data, and fixed-effects model was used to pool the hazard ratio according to the test of heterogeneity. A total of seven eligible studies including 1,377 lung cancer patients were analyzed. Survival time was significantly better in patients in the low D-dimer group than those in the high D-dimer group (hazard ratio for high D-dimer group = 1.12; 95% confidence interval 1.02 to 1.23). Patients with high levels of D-dimer have a poorer overall survival compared with those patients with low levels of D-dimer.