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D-dimer level is related to the prognosis of patients with small cell lung cancer
Xuqin Jiang1, Xiaodong Mei1, Huimei Wu2
1Department of Respiratory Medicine, Affiliated Anhui Provincial Hospital, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230001, China.
Background:
Although the significance of D-dimer in cancer patients has been extensively studied and plasma D-dimer levels have been reported to be abnormally high in certain types of lung cancer patients, its prognostic value for small cell lung cancer (SCLC) remains largely unknown.
Methods:
One hundred and seven newly diagnosed SCLC patients were enrolled in this study. Variables including the clinical features, pre-treatment levels of D-dimer, serum neuron-specific enolase (NSE), and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) were extracted. The correlations between D-dimer levels and prognosis of the patient were analysed with Kaplan-Meier survival analysis.
Results:
Plasma D-dimer levels were elevated in 57.01% of patients. Patients with extensive stage disease had higher D-dimer levels compared with those at limited stage. D-dimer levels were positively correlated with NSE and CEA levels. The elevated D-dimer levels were significantly associated with the SCLC-related mortality. Patients with elevated D-dimer levels had a shorter median survival time than those with normal levels, and a significant difference existed between the two groups.
Conclusions:
Increased D-dimer levels suggested a shorter survival time in SCLC patients. Pre-treatment D-dimer level is useful in estimating the prognosis of patients with SCLC.
