Prognostic value of plasma D-dimer levels in patients with small-cell lung cancer.
OBJECTIVE
Little data exists with respect to the relationship between the level of plasma D-dimer and prognosis of small cell lung cancer (SCLC).The aim of this study was to investigate whether the levels of plasma D-dimer could be served as a prognostic factor in patients with SCLC.


METHODS
A total of 393 patients with SCLC were addressed in the present retrospective study. Plasma D-dimer levels were measured by immunoturbidimetric assay. The correlation between plasma D-dimer levels and other clinical features, progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) was analyzed statistically.


RESULTS
The plasma D-dimer levels were significantly correlated with karnofsky performance status (KPS), tumor stage, number of metastatic sites, and treatment response. The PFS and OS of patients with elevated D-dimer levels before chemotherapy were significantly shorter than that of patients with normal D-dimer levels (PFS: 6.2 months versus 9.6 months, P<0.001; OS: 15.7 months versus 24.4 months, P<0.001). The patients with D-dimer levels converting from high to normal had better PFS and OS than those with D-dimer levels remaining high after two cycles of chemotherapy. According to multivariate analysis, elevated D-dimer level was confirmed to be an independent prognostic factor for worse survival.


CONCLUSIONS
Elevated plasma D-dimer level could be served as an independent determinant of poor prognosis in patients with SCLC.
Medical Center Tsinghua University, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
Yi
Y
Chen
Department of Medical Oncology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China.
Haiming
H
Yu
Department of Medical Oncology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China.
Chao
C
Wu
Department of Medical Oncology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China.
Jinyu
J
Li
Department of Medical Oncology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China. Electronic address: changjiao84@126.com.
Shunchang
S
Jiao
Department of Medical Oncology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China.
Yi
Y
Hu
Department of Medical Oncology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China.
Haitao
H
Tao
Department of Medical Oncology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China.
Baishou
B
Wu
Department of Medical Oncology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China.
Aijie
A
Li
D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003710:Demography; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005338:Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D055752:Small Cell Lung Carcinoma / Q000097:blood*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D005338:Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products; C036309:fibrin fragment D
Chemotherapy; D-dimer; Overall survival (OS); Progression free survival (PFS); SCLC