title: Clinical Significance of Preoperative Thrombin Time in Patients with Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma following Surgical Resection.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Noninvasive tools for the prognosis of ESCC are urgently needed. To this end, serum coagulation tests have been researched in some cancers, but the prognostic value of the TT in ESCC has not been described.
  
  
  METHODS
  The levels of pre-treatment serum coagulation markers (including the PT, APTT, PTA, INR, fibrinogen level, TT and PLT) were retrospectively analyzed in 204 patients with ESCC who underwent surgical resection at our department and in 200 healthy controls, and the two groups were compared. The prognostic significance of the coagulation tests was then determined with univariate and multivariate cox hazard analyses in patients with ESCC.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with those in normal controls, the PT, APTT, and fibrinogen levels were significantly increased, whereas the TT values significantly decreased in the 204 ESCC patients. The TT directly correlated with the 5-year survival rate, not only in the entire ESCC cohort (p = 0.023) but also in the subgroups stratified according to the T and N classifications and metastasis. Conversely, the other tests were not independent prognostic factors for ESCC. Of the clotting markers, the TT inversely correlated with the fibrinogen level (p = 0.005).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The 5-year survival was shorter in ESCC patients exhibiting decreased pre-treatment TT values. Thus, the serum TT may be a clinical prognostic factor for ESCC patients.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China; Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Hui
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China; Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Xue-Ping
authors.initials: XP
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Wen-Shen
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China; Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Jian-Hua
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China; Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China; Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China; Guangdong Esophageal Cancer Institute, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China; Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China; Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D001780:Blood Coagulation Tests / Q000379:methods*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D000077277:Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013918:Thrombin Time
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor