Preoperative plasma D-dimer level is an independent prognostic factor in patients with completely resected non-small cell lung cancer.

PURPOSE: 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.