Activation of coagulation and fibrinolysis is frequently encountered among cancer patients. Such tumors are supposed to be associated with higher risk of invasion, metastases and eventually worse outcome. The aim of this study is to explore the prognostic value of blood coagulation tests for lung cancer patients. The study comprised 110 lung cancer patients. Pretreatment blood coagulation tests including PT, aPTT, PTA, INR, D-dimer, fibrinogen levels and platelet counts were evaluated. The plasma level of all coagulation tests revealed statistically significant difference between patient and control group (p < 0.001). There was a significant association between D-Dimer levels and histological subtypes of NSCLC, pointing an elevated plasma D-dimer level in squamous cell cancer (p = 0.035). Patients with extensive stage SCLC exhibited evidently higher levels of D-Dimer, INR and PLT (p = 0.037, p = 0.042, p = 0.04, respectively). Prolongation of PT and INR had statistically significant adverse effect on survival (p = 0.05 and p = 0.014, respectively). Although prolonged aPTT and high levels of D-dimer was associated with worse survival, the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.117, p = 0.104). Multivariate analysis revealed INR as the sole independent prognostic variable among coagulation parameters (p = 0.05). In conclusion, elevation of PT and INR are associated with decreased survival in lung cancer patients.

Tenascin-C (TNC) is an extracellular matrix protein that is expressed at low levels in normal adult tissue but is highly expressed around many tumors including ovarian tumors. The objective of this study was to determine the clinical significance of the serum levels of TNC in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients. A total of 50 patients with a pathologically confirmed diagnosis of EOC were included in this study. Serum TNC levels were determined by the solid-phase sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Age- and sex- matched 28 healthy controls were included in the analysis. Median age of the patients was 56.5 years old, range 22 to 83 years. Majority of the patients had advanced disease (FIGO stage III-IV) (90 %). The median serum TNC levels were found significantly higher in EOC patients (130.5 pg/mL) compared to healthy controls (90.1 pg/mL) (p = 0.03). We found no correlation between serum TNC levels and any prognostic parameters analyzed, including age of the patients, histology, tumor grade, stage of the disease, and response to chemotherapy. Survival analysis did not show statistically significant effect of serum TNC concentration on progression-free and overall survival (p = 0.36 and p = 0.19, respectively). However, patients with high serum TNC levels tend to have poor overall survival. In conclusion, although serum TNC levels are elevated, it has no predictive or prognostic roles on survival in EOC patients.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the commonest primary malignant cancer of the liver in the world. This study was conducted to investigate the serum levels of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)in HCC patients and the relationship with tumor progression and known prognostic parameters. Fifty-four patients with HCC were investigated. Pretreatment HGF levels were employed the quantitative sandwich enzyme immunoassay technique (ELISA). Age and sex matched 20 healthy controls were included in the analysis. The median age of the patients was 60 years (range 36-77 years); where males consistituted of majority of the group (88.8%). All of patients had cirrhotic history. Fourty-six percent (n = 25) of patients had Child-Pugh Score A, 30% (n = 16) had Score B or C. All of the patients were treated with local therapies but none of them received sorafenib. The baseline serum HGF levels were significantly higher in patients with HCC than in the control group (p < 0.001). Male patients had higher serum HGF levels compared with female patients (p = 0.01). Serum HGF levels were significantly higher in the patients with elevated serum ALT levels than others with normal serum ALT levels (p = 0.05). Poor performance status (p < 0.001), viral etiology of cirrhosis (p = 0.03), larger tumor size (p = 0.01), lower serum hemogloblin levels (p = 0.03), and not be treated for HCC (p = 0.001) related to worse survival. However, serum HGF did not have significantly adverse effect on survival (p = 0.58). Despite serum HGF levels were found diagnostic value, serum HGF levels had no prognostic value in patients with HCC.

Coagulation assays can be utilized as predictors of disease extent in CRC. Elevated D-dimer and INR values may indicate higher disease stage. Correlation of D-dimer levels with CEA supports their value for assessing tumor burden.

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