Postoperative serum C-reactive protein levels in non-small cell lung cancer patients.

PURPOSE The significance of the postoperative serum C-reactive protein (CRP) level as a prognosis indicator was evaluated in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). PATIENTS AND METHODS A total of 276 patients who had undergone a curative resection of NSCLC were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS The overall and disease-specific survival rates in the postoperative CRP/high group (≥ 0.5 mg/dL at 30 days postoperation: n = 130) were significantly lower than those in the postoperative CRP/low group (< 0.5 mg/dL at 30 days postoperation: n = 146). However, based on a multivariate analysis, the postoperative CRP level was not among the unfavorable indicators regarding survival. The patients were divided into two groups, namely, the preoperative CRP/low group (n = 231) and the CRP/high group (n = 45). The proportion of the postoperative CRP/low group (60.2%) in the preoperative CRP/low group was significantly lower than that in the preoperative CRP/low group (15.6%; p <0.0001). No significant difference was observed in the disease-specific survival rates in the postoperative CRP/high group and the postoperative CRP/low group in either the preoperative high/group or low/group. CONCLUSIONS The overall and disease-specific survival rates in the postoperative CRP/high group were significantly lower than that in the postoperative CRP/low group. This difference may be associated with the relationship between the pre- and postoperative CRP levels.