Prognostic value of D-dimer levels in patients with gastric cancer undergoing gastrectomy

Background Plasma D-dimer levels have been associated with tumor progression and oncological outcomes in several cancers. This study assessed the relationships of D-dimer levels with clinicopathological features and survival outcomes in patients with gastric cancer undergoing gastrectomy. Methods Data from 666 patients with gastric cancer who underwent gastrectomy between June 2012 and December 2015 were collected and analyzed; these data were acquired during a previous randomized clinical trial (PROTECTOR trial, NCT01448746). Optimal cut-off values of preoperative, immediate postoperative, postoperative-day 1, postoperative-day 4, and postoperative-day 30 D-dimer levels for predicting overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were determined using Contal and O'Quigley's method. The optimal cut-off value of the immediate postoperative D-dimer level for predicting OS was 3.33. Patients were divided into D-dimer high and low groups based on these cut-off values. Results High immediate postoperative D-dimer levels were significantly associated with advanced T stage and TNM stage (P = 0.001 and P = 0.006, respectively). OS and DFS were significantly lower for patients in the D-dimer high group than for patients in the D-dimer low group; this relationship was consistent for preoperative, immediate postoperative, postoperative-day 1, and postoperative-day 30 D-dimer levels. Multivariate analysis identified the immediate postoperative D-dimer level as an independent prognostic factor for OS (hazard ratio, 2.52; P = 0.010). Conclusions Elevated immediate postoperative D-dimer level was predictive of poor long-term outcomes in patients with gastric cancer after gastrectomy. Immediate postoperative D-dimer levels may offer simple and inexpensive clinical decision-making guidance for patients with gastric cancer after gastrectomy.