D-dimer level is related to the prognosis of patients with small cell lung cancer

BACKGROUND: Although the significance of D-dimer in cancer patients has been extensively studied and plasma D-dimer levels have been reported to be abnormally high in certain types of lung cancer patients, its prognostic value for small cell lung cancer (SCLC) remains largely unknown. METHODS: One hundred and seven newly diagnosed SCLC patients were enrolled in this study. Variables including the clinical features, pre-treatment levels of D-dimer, serum neuron-specific enolase (NSE), and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) were extracted. The correlations between D-dimer levels and prognosis of the patient were analysed with Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. RESULTS: Plasma D-dimer levels were elevated in 57.01% of patients. Patients with extensive stage disease had higher D-dimer levels compared with those at limited stage. D-dimer levels were positively correlated with NSE and CEA levels. The elevated D-dimer levels were significantly associated with the SCLC-related mortality. Patients with elevated D-dimer levels had a shorter median survival time than those with normal levels, and a significant difference existed between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Increased D-dimer levels suggested a shorter survival time in SCLC patients. Pre-treatment D-dimer level is useful in estimating the prognosis of patients with SCLC.