Abstract
Background/Aim: Plasma D-dimer levels have been known to be associated with tumor progression; we, therefore, investigated whether the D-dimer levels during preoperative systemic chemotherapy can be prognostic indicators in patients with high-grade musculoskeletal sarcoma. Patients and Methods: We investigated 28 cases of high-grade sarcomas, and evaluated the utility of D-dimer levels for preoperative evaluation of the effects of systemic chemotherapy. Results: Among the candidate parameters determined based on D-dimer levels at several time-points of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and several oncological outcomes, the plasma D-dimer level completion of the second course of chemotherapy and the ratio of plasma D-dimer levels at completion of preoperative chemotherapy to the level of plasma D-dimer on referral, could significantly predict patient prognosis (p=0.049 and p=0.02, respectively). Conclusion: D-dimer level changes could be a helpful marker for preoperative evaluation of the effect of systemic chemotherapy in terms of prognosis prediction in high-grade musculoskeletal sarcoma patients.
- Received September 13, 2015.
- Revision received October 2, 2015.
- Accepted October 19, 2015.
- Copyright© 2015 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved
