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Erschienen in:
01.01.2015 | Research Article
Prognostic and predictive value of plasma D-dimer in advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients undergoing first-line chemotherapy
Erschienen in: Clinical and Translational Oncology | Ausgabe 1/2015
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Purpose
Previous studies have demonstrated that plasma D-dimer, a degradation product of cross-linked fibrin, correlated with tumor stage and prognosis in cancer patients. The aim of this study is to examine whether plasma D-dimer levels before and during chemotherapy predict tumor response and survival in advanced NSCLC patients undergoing first line chemotherapy.
Methods
Plasma D-dimer levels before (B0), and after one (B1) and two (B2) cycles of chemotherapy in 82 patients with advanced NSCLC were measured and correlated with treatment response, clinical features, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival.
Results
A significant correlation was identified between changes in D-dimer levels before and after two chemotherapy cycles and treatment response. In addition, there were significant correlations between D-dimer positivity at B0, B1 and B2 time points and tumor stage, number of metastatic sites and treatment response. Patients with positivity of D-dimer at B0, B1 and B2 had significantly shorter PFS compared with those with negativity. Notably, positivity of D-dimer at B1 and B2 time points was an independent predictive factor for unfavorable PFS.
Conclusions
The positivity of D-dimer before and during chemotherapy is a predictor of treatment response and worse PFS in patients with advanced NSCLC. D-dimer levels provide prognostic information in addition to that of imaging studies.