title: Elevated platelet count is a strong predictor of poor prognosis in stage I non-small cell lung cancer patients.
abstract: Stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) show a highly variable biological behavior which cannot be accurately predicted by the current available prognostic markers. Platelet plays a significant role in cancer cell growth, progression and metastasis. This study aimed to investigate whether preoperative platelet count correlate with clinical prognosis in localized NSCLC. A retrospective clinical analysis was designed for a total of 234 stage I NSCLC patients in our hospital between October 2006 and December 2009. Pre-operative platelet count was measured. The association of platelet count with clinical pathological factors and patient outcome was evaluated. A significant correlation was detected between platelet count and tumor cell differentiation and T stage. Patients with elevated platelet count had an elevated risk of disease progression and death compared to patients with normal platelet count. The hazard ratio was 5.314 (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.750-10.269) for disease progression and 3.139 (95% CI 1.227-8.034) for death. The trend linking increasing platelet count with risk was also statistically significant for both the outcomes (p < 0.05). These finding demonstrate that preoperative platelet count is a useful predictor of high risk progression and poor prognosis in stage I NSCLC patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Therapy, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital , Hangzhou, Zhejiang , China .
authors.forename: Yongling
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: Liming
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sheng
authors.forename: Xianghui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Guoqin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Su
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010976:Platelet Count; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013922:Thrombocytosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology
keywords: Lung cancer; platelet, prognosis; stage I disease