Plasma fibrinogen and serum albumin levels (FA score) act as a promising prognostic indicator in non-small cell lung cancer

BACKGROUND Evidence implies that preoperative plasma fibrinogen and serum albumin are associated with cancer prognosis. We aimed to explore the prognostic values of the score based on plasma fibrinogen and serum albumin levels (FA score) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and to compare that with prognostic nutritional index (PNI). PATIENTS AND METHODS In all, 182 patients pathologically diagnosed with NSCLC were included in this study. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and multivariate analysis were used in the prognostic analyses. RESULTS High FA score was related to smoking (P=0.005), poor differential grade (P=0.002), and advanced T stage (P<0.001) and tumor, node, and metastases stage (P=0.011). Low PNI showed association with advanced T stage (P=0.030). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis indicated that high FA score and low PNI were associated with poor progression-free survival (PFS; for the FA score, P<0.001; for PNI, P=0.001) and overall survival (OS; for the FA score, P<0.001; for PNI, P=0.013), respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that FA score was an independent predictor for PFS (P=0.003) and OS (P=0.001) in NSCLC patients. CONCLUSION The FA score could act as a more promising prognostic predictor than PNI in NSCLC patients who underwent pneumonectomy.