BackgroundNumerous studies have generated promising but incomplete evidence for the prognostic value of pretreatment serum levels of lactate dehydrogenase (S-LDH) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).MethodsPretreatment serum levels of S-LDH in 601 patients with NPC were measured before treatment, and their associations with overall survival and tumor-free survival were studied. Univariate and multivariate analysis of subgroups was used to evaluate the prognostic value of S-LDH in early-stage and late-stage NPC separately.ResultsPretreatment S-LDH levels were significantly lower in T1+2 patients than in T3+4 patients, lower in N0+1 patients than in N2+3 ones, and lower in stage I + II patients than in III + IV ones. Multivariate analysis showed that among patients with late-stage NPC, high pretreatment S-LDH levels >225 U/L were an independent predictor of poor overall survival and tumor-free survival. Among patients with early-stage NPC, pretreatment S-LDH levels >171 U/L, which overlap with the normal range, were an independent predictor of shorter overall survival and tumor-free survival.ConclusionPretreatment S-LDH levels may be a reliable biomarker for predicting the long-term prognosis of patients with early-stage or late-stage NPC.

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The pretreatment serum level of CYFRA 21-1 would be a reliable biomarker to evaluate the long-term prognosis of patients with undifferentiated NPC.

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