Clinical Biomarkers and Prognosis in Taiwanese Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)

Yixia Li¹, Yea-Jyh Chen², Li-Jung Chang³, Michael Hendryx^1,4, Juhua Luo^1,4,5*

¹Department of Community Medicine, School of Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, USA.
²School of Nursing, West Virginia University, Morgantown, USA.
³Department of Nursing, Tzu Chi College of Technology, Hualien.
⁴West Virginia Rural Health Research Center, Morgantown, USA.
⁵Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center, West Virginia University, Morgantown, USA.

DOI: 10.4236/jct.2012.324054                

Abstract

Introduction: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide with poor survival rates. However, the prognostic factors for survival of patients with lung cancer are not well-established. In this study, we examined the impact of routine laboratory biomarkers and traditional factors on survival of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Method: Secondary data analysis was conducted from a retrospective study of 404 patients with newly diag-nosed lung cancer in 2005-2007 in Taiwan. There were eight routine laboratory biomarkers and eight traditional factors investigated in the analyses. Cox proportional hazards model was used to assess the hazard ratios for the association between risk factors and patient overall survival. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to compare survival curves for each prognostic indicator. Results: High WBC counts (HR = 1.798, 95%CI: 1.225 - 2.639), low Hgb level (HR = 1.437, 95%CI: 1.085 - 1.903), and low serum albumin level (HR = 2.049, 95%CI: 1.376 - 3.052) were significant laboratory prognostic biomarkers for poor NSCLC survival. Additionally we confirmed the traditional prognostic factors for poor overall survival among NSCLC patients, including older age, comorbidity conditions, advanced cancer stage, and non-surgical treatment. Conclusions: This study identified three available laboratory biomarkers, high WBC counts, low Hgb level, and low serum albumin level, to be significant prognostic factors for poorer overall survival in NSCLC patients. Further prognostic evaluation studies are warranted to compare different ethnic groups on the prognostic values of these clinical parameters in NSCLC survival outcomes. These identified prognostic biomarkers should be included in early risk screening of hospitalized lung cancer patient population.

Keywords

Clinical Biomarkers; Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC); Prognostic Factors

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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