Thrombocytosis as a useful prognostic indicator in patients with lung cancer.
BACKGROUND
Thrombocytosis can accompany various cancers including lung cancer. This finding has recently been suggested to indicate poor prognosis.


OBJECTIVE
We retrospectively examined the clinical records of 611 patients with lung cancer to investigate whether there is a correlation between thrombocytosis, other clinicopathologic factors, and survival.


RESULTS
Ninety-eight of the patients (16%) manifested thrombocytosis at the time of their first evaluation at our hospital. Thrombocytosis and age (p = 0.0006) and thrombocytosis and performance status (p = 0.0002) are significantly correlated, but thrombocytosis is not related to gender, tumor histology, clinical stage, or serum lactate dehydrogenase concentrations. Survival is significantly shorter in patients with thrombocytosis: [median survival time (MST) 7.5 months; n = 98] than without thrombocytosis (MST 10.1 months; n = 513; p = 0.0029). Multivariate analysis of prognostic factors using the Cox proportional hazards model indicated that thrombocytosis had independent prognostic significance.


CONCLUSIONS
Thrombocytosis at the first patient evaluation is an independent prognostic factor in lung cancer.
Aoe
Keisuke
K
Second Department of Medicine, Okayama University Medical School, Higashi-kiwa, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan. aoe@sanyou-dr.jp
Hiraki
Akio
A
Ueoka
Hiroshi
H
Kiura
Katsuyuki
K
Tabata
Masahiro
M
Tanaka
Motoyuki
M
Tanimoto
Mitsune
M
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013922:Thrombocytosis / Q000453:epidemiology*
D015415:Biomarkers