Preoperative plateletcrit is a Prognostic Biomarker for Survival in Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Objectives: Several factors associated with the prognosis of patients with NSCLC have been reported in the literature; however, most of these factors cannot be examined preoperatively. In this study, the clinical utility of platelet parameters in patients with NSCLC who underwent curative resection was evaluated. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study on patients with NSCLC who underwent curative resection from July 2006 to September 2016 was conducted. The Cox proportional hazard regression model was applied to evaluate the variables that demonstrated effects on disease-free and overall survival (DFS and OS). Results: A total of 116 patients with NSCLC were analyzed. There were 15 patients with plateletcrit greater than 0.2755%, and 101 patients whose plateletcrit was 0.2755% or lower. Multivariate analysis identified plateletcrit higher than 0.2755% (hazard ratio [HR] = 4.18, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.54-11.34, P =0.004), patient age of 65 years or more (HR = 4.02, 95% CI = 1.67-9.66, P = 0.001), and stage II or IIIA disease (HR = 2.95, 95% CI = 1.26-6.87, P = 0.012) as independent factors for OS that predicted a poor prognosis. Multivariate analysis identified plateletcrit higher than 0.2755% (HR = 4.07, 95% CI = 1.52-10.94, P = 0.005), stage II or IIIA disease (HR = 5.38, 95% CI = 2.71-10.66, P < 0.001) and non-adenocarcinoma (HR = 1.92, 95% CI = 1.02-3.59, P = 0.040) as independent prognostic factors for DFS that predicted a poor prognosis. Conclusion: Our results suggest a potential role of preoperative plateletcrit as an independent prognostic marker for patients with resectable NSCLC.