title: The prognostic value of plasma soluble CD40 ligand levels in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Serum soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L) concentrations are increased in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). This study further evaluated the relationship between plasma sCD40L concentrations and long-term survival of NPC.
  
  
  METHODS
  Plasma sCD40L concentrations of 312 patients and 312 healthy controls were determined using an ELISA. The associations of plasma sCD40L concentrations with 5-year overall survival, progression-free survival, distant metastasis-free survival, and locoregional relapse-free survival were investigated by univariate and multivariate analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Plasma sCD40L concentrations were substantially higher in patients than in healthy subjects and also correlated highly with tumor classification, lymph node classification and tumor node metastasis stage. sCD40L emerged as an independent predictor for 5-year overall survival, progression-free survival, distant metastasis-free survival, and locoregional relapse-free survival using univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  High plasma sCD40L concentration is correlated with stage progression of NPC as well as associated with poor survival of NPC. It is suggested that sCD40L should have the potential to be a prognostic biomarker for NPC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, 79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou 310003, PR China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, 79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou 310003, PR China.
authors.forename: Wei-Jia
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, 79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou 310003, PR China.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chai
authors.affiliation: Cancer Center, Traditional Chinese Medicine-Integrated Hospital, Southern Medical University, 13 Shiliugang Road, Guangzhou 510000, PR China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ruan
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, 79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou 310003, PR China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, 79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou 310003, PR China.
authors.forename: Wei-Qin
authors.initials: WQ
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, 79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou 310003, PR China.
authors.forename: Shan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, 79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou 310003, PR China.
authors.forename: Shui-Hong
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, 79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou 310003, PR China. Electronic address: wnjyuuh@163.com.
authors.forename: Zhi-Li
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood / Q000737:chemistry; D023201:CD40 Ligand / Q000097:blood* / Q000737:chemistry*; D002277:Carcinoma; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000077274:Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012995:Solubility
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D023201:CD40 Ligand
keywords: Biomarker; Nasopharyngeal carcinoma; Soluble CD40 ligand; Survival