[Correlation between Plasma D-dimer Count and Features of
Non-small Cell Lung Cancer]

More and more patients with small pulmonary nodules (SPN) can be found along with the developing of chest low-dose computed tomography (LDCT). With current examinations not all the SPN can be diagnosed to be benign or malignant and not all the malignant nodules can be diagnosed to be lymphatic metastasis. We need to study the correlation between plasma D-dimer count of patients before surgery with pathology features of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

The study comprised 567 highly suspected lung cancer patients. Preoperative plasma D-dimer were qualified, and the relationship between plasma D-dimer with pathology features including benign or malignant nodules, tumor size and involvement of lymph nodes was examined using Kruskal-Wallis test and Spearman correlation coefficients.

The median plasma D-dimer values were statistically higher in NSCLC patients than in those who suffered from benign lung nodules (P<0.001). The median plasma D-dimer values in NSCLC patients with malignant lymph nodes were statistically higher than in those without malignant lymph nodes (P<0.001). An obvious relationship was observed between elevated D-dimer with number of malignant lymph nodes involvement and tumer size. An obvious relationship was observed between elevated D-dimer (>112.5 ng/mL) and malignant lymph node involvement in stage T1 lung cancer.

The plasma D-dimer maybe useful for early diagnosis, staging and prognosis of the patients with NSCLC. The plasma D-dimer can be one of the indicator to identify what kind of patients need mediastinal lymph node cleaning.