title: An elevated preoperative plasma fibrinogen level is associated with poor overall survival in Chinese gastric cancer patients.
abstract: To investigate the association between preoperative plasma fibrinogen level and overall survival (OS) in a cohort of Chinese gastric cancer patients who underwent gastrectomy.
  
  
  
  A retrospective cohort study was conducted among 1090 gastric cancer patients treated between January 2003 and December 2011 who were eligible for inclusion criteria. Plasma fibrinogen level was routinely measured before surgeries. The optional cut-off value for fibrinogen level was estimated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. OS was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier curve. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression models were performed to determine correlations between preoperative plasma fibrinogen level and OS.
  
  
  
  Enrolled subjects who returned for at least one follow-up visit had been followed for a median of 44.0 months (interquartile range, 62.0 months). An optimal cut-off value of 3.9g/L was determined for preoperative plasma fibrinogen level. Lymph node dissection method, tumor location, invasion depth, lymph node metastasis, differentiation, distant metastasis, CA199 and plasma fibrinogen level remained statistically significant with OS in multivariate analysis. Plasma fibrinogen level was significantly associated with age, tumor size, lymph node dissection method, invasion depth, lymph node metastasis, TNM stage and CEA.
  
  
  
  Elevated preoperative plasma fibrinogen was independently associated with poor prognosis and may serve as a clinically useful biomarker for risk assessment and treatment choice in Chinese gastric cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Qingpu Branch of Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 201700, China.
authors.forename: Weijun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Qingpu Branch of Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 201700, China.
authors.forename: Yongfeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Qingpu Branch of Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 201700, China. Electronic address: bomingshenplos@126.com.
authors.forename: Boming
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People; D005260:Female; D005340:Fibrinogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D005340:Fibrinogen
keywords: China; Gastric cancer; Overall survival; Plasma fibrinogen level