Preoperative plasma D-dimer level is an independent prognostic factor in patients with completely resected non-small cell lung cancer.
OBJECTIVE
The plasma D-dimer (D-dimer) level, a marker of hypercoagulation, has been reported to be associated with survival in several types of cancers. This retrospective study was conducted to evaluate the prognostic significance of the preoperative D-dimer level in patients with completely resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).


METHODS
A total of 237 completely resected NSCLC patients were included in this study. In addition to age, sex, the smoking status, etc., the association between the preoperative D-dimer level and survival was explored.


RESULTS
The patients were divided into three groups according to the D-dimer level: group A (≤ 0.50 μg/ml, n = 76), group B (0.51-0.86 μg/ml, n = 79) and group C (>0.86 μg/ml, n = 82). The 5-year overall survival rate was 89.6 % (95 % confidence interval (CI) 77.7-95.3) for group A, 75.1 % (95 % CI 62.3-83.6) for group B and 60.1 % (95 % CI 46.8-71.1) for group C (P trend <0.001). A multivariate survival analysis showed that the D-dimer level (group B vs. group A HR 4.25, group C vs. group A HR 4.11) was an independent significant prognostic factor, in addition to age, sex, the pathological stage and the serum carcinoembryonic antigen level.


CONCLUSIONS
The preoperative D-dimer level is an independent prognostic factor in patients with completely resected NSCLC.
Department of Thoracic Surgery, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya, 466-8550, Japan.
Koichi
K
Fukumoto
Tetsuo
T
Taniguchi
Noriyasu
N
Usami
Koji
K
Kawaguchi
Takayuki
T
Fukui
Futoshi
F
Ishiguro
Shota
S
Nakamura
Kohei
K
Yokoi
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000097:blood; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005338:Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products / Q000032:analysis*; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011013:Pneumonectomy; D057234:Preoperative Period; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen; D005338:Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products; C036309:fibrin fragment D