title: Increased pretreatment levels of serum LDH and ALP as poor prognostic factors for nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
abstract: Serum enzymes that play potential roles in tumor growth have recently been reported to have prognostic relevance in a diverse array of tumors. However, prognosis-related serum enzymes are rarely reported for nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC). To clarify whether the level of serum enzymes is linked to the prognosis of NPC, we reviewed the pretreatment data of lactate dehydrogenase(LDH), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and glutamyl transferase (GGT) in 533 newly diagnosed NPC patients who underwent radical radiotherapy between May 2002 and October 2003 at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center. Patients were grouped according to the upper limit of normal values of LDH, ALP, and GGT. The Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test were used for selecting prognostic factors from clinical characteristics and serum enzymes, and the chi-square test was applied to analyze the relationships of clinical characteristics and serum enzymes. Finally, a Cox proportional hazards model was used to identify the independent prognostic factors. We found that increased levels of LDH had poor effects on both overall survival and distant metastasis-free survival (P = 0.009 and 0.035, respectively), and increased pretreatment level of serum ALP had poor effects on both overall survival and local recurrence-free survival (P = 0.037 and 0.039, respectively). In multivariate analysis, increased LDH level was identified as an independent prognostic factor for overall survival. Therefore, we conclude that increased pretreatment serum LDH and ALP levels are poor prognostic factors for NPC.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510060, PR China.
authors.forename: Guo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Ya-Lan
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.forename: Bing-Qing
authors.initials: BQ
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Zi-Wei
authors.initials: ZW
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.forename: Zhi-Gang
authors.initials: ZG
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Mu-Sheng
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Yun-Fei
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Xia
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase / Q000097:blood*; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011881:Radiotherapy, Computer-Assisted; D020266:Radiotherapy, Conformal; D050397:Radiotherapy, Intensity-Modulated; D015996:Survival Rate; D055815:Young Adult; D005723:gamma-Glutamyltransferase / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; D005723:gamma-Glutamyltransferase; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase; D002945:Cisplatin; D005472:Fluorouracil