Blood Parameters Demonstrating a Significant Survival Impact in Patients With Locally Advanced NSCLC Undergoing Definitive Chemoradiotherapy.

AIM

We investigated blood parameters in patients with inoperable stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to predict individual outcomes after definitive chemoradiotherapy (CRT).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Blood parameters of consecutive patients undergoing definitive CRT between 2010 and 2016 for inoperable stage III NSCLC before multimodal treatment and at first follow-up were measured and analyzed.

RESULTS

Blood parameters from 99 patients were evaluated. Histologically, about 50% of patients had an adenocarcinoma. All patients received platinum-based sequential or concurrent CRT. The median total dose to the primary tumor was 60 (range=48-70) Gy. On multivariate analysis after adjustment for all co-founders, median overall survival for pre-treatment cutoffs were: lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) >250 U/l was 17 vs. 27 months [hazard ratio (HR)=2.05, 95% confidence intervaI (CI)=1.15-3.66; p=0.015], thrombocytosis >400×10/l: 11 vs. 23 months (HR=2.75, 95% CI=1.1-6.88; p=0.03), hypoalbuminemia <3.5 g/dl: 12 vs. 24 months (HR=2.42, 95% CI=1.21-4.84; p=0.013) and post-treatment neutrophilia >7×10/l: 12 vs. 27 months (HR=2.5, 95% CI=1.21-5.17; p=0.013).

CONCLUSION

Pre-treatment elevated LDH, thrombocytosis, hypoalbuminemia and post-treatment neutrophilia were associated with significantly worse overall survival in patients with inoperable stage III NSCLC treated with CRT. Patients with both pre-therapeutic elevated LDH and hypoalbuminemia demonstrated a dismal prognosis despite completion of multimodal treatment.