High Pre-treatment Plasma D-Dimer Level as a Potential Prognostic Biomarker for Cervical Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND/AIM We aimed to evaluate the prognostic significance of high pre-treatment plasma D-dimer levels in patients with cervical carcinoma (CC) after adjusting for venous thromboembolism. PATIENTS AND METHODS Relationships between the clinicopathological characteristics and the overall (OS) and progression-free (PFS) survival rates of patients with CC (N=129) were examined. Survival was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method and prognostic indicators assessed using a Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS A high pre-treatment plasma level of D-dimers, detected in 42.6% of cases (N=55), was associated with advanced tumour stage. In the multivariate analysis, high pre-treatment plasma D-dimer levels, tumour stage, histological type, and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels were identified as independent prognostic factors for OS, while tumour stage and CEA levels were identified as independent prognostic factors for PFS. CONCLUSION A high pre-treatment plasma level of D-dimers represents an independent prognostic biomarker for CC that could assist in identifying high-risk populations for treatment decisions.