Our study supports the view that a high basal PLR is a poor prognostic factor in NSCLC. However, the validity of the cut-off values for PLR identified in our study needs further prospective trials.

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Aim of the studyData are available indicating that red blood cell distribution width (RDW) is higher in cancer patients compared to healthy individuals or benign events. In our study, we aimed to investigate the influence of different RDW levels on survival in lung cancer patients.Material and methodsClinical and laboratory data from 146 patients with lung cancer and 40 healthy subjects were retrospectively studied. RDW was recorded before the application of any treatment. Patients were categorised according to four different RDW cut-off values (median RDW, RDW determined by ROC curve analysis, the upper limit at the automatic blood count device, and RDW cut of value which used in previous studies). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to examine the effect of RDW on survival for each cut-off level.ResultsThe median age of patients was 56.5 years (range: 26–83 years). The difference in median RDW between patients and the control group was statistically significant (14.0 and 13.8, respectively, p = 0.04). There was no difference with regard to overall survival when patients with RDW ≥ 14.0 were compared to those with RDW < 14.0 (p = 0.70); however, overall survival was 3.0 months shorter in low values of its own group in each of the following cut-off values: ≥ 14.2 (p = 0.34), ≥ 14.5 (p = 0.25), ≥ 15 (p = 0.59), although no results were statistically significant.DiscussionWe consider that the difference between low and high RDW values according to certain cut-off values may reflect the statistics of larger studies although there is a statistically negative correlation between RDW level and survival.

Objective: Prognosis of metastatic gastric cancer is poor and median survival is between 3 and 5 months. Response rates of combination chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and cisplatin in first-line treatment have been found to be 20–25% in the English literature. It has been demonstrated that adding docetaxel to combination chemotherapy improved time to progression and overall survival. However, the toxicity rates of the docetaxel-cisplatin-5-FU protocol were high. In our study we compared efficacy and toxicity of cisplatin-5-FU-folinic acid (CFF) and modified docetaxel-cisplatin-5-FU (mDCF) regimens in the first-line treatment of metastatic gastric cancer. Patients and Methods: Between June 2004 and October 2008, 70 patients with previously untreated metastatic gastric cancer treated with CFF (n = 30) and mDCF (n = 40) were retrospectively evaluated in the study. Survival and toxicity data were compared. Results: Median age of the patients was 53 years (range 23–69). Forty-eight percent of the patients were male and 75.7% had an ECOG performance status of 0–1. Prognostic factors including age, ECOG performance status, histopathological grade, and number and sites of metastases were similar between the groups. Objective response rates (complete and partial response) were higher in the mDCF group (30.0 vs. 13.3%, p = 0.19). While toxicity was acceptable in both groups, the most common grade 3–4 toxicities were anemia in 3.3 and 5.0%, neutropenia in 20 and 7.5%, febrile neutropenia in 6.7 and 5.0%, and diarrhea in 3.3 and 5.0% in the CFF and mDCF groups, respectively. Median follow-up was 10.3 (1.5–59.6) months. During that period 90 and 97.5% of the patients were dead in the CFF and mDCF groups, respectively. Median time to progression was 4.4 (95% CI 1.8–7.0) and 6.2 months (95% CI 5.6–6.8) (p = 0.85), median overall survival was 6.5 (95% CI 1.8–11.2) and 8.7 months (95% CI 6.7–10.7) (p = 0.88) in the CFF and mDCF groups, respectively. Conclusion: The mDCF regimen has been found to be more favorable than the CFF regimen with an acceptable toxicity profile in the first-line treatment of metastatic gastric cancer.

Objective: There are some data regarding the role of cystatin C, a cysteine proteinase inhibitor, in determining the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) more accurately. We aimed to evaluate the correlation of serum cystatin C levels with the serum creatinine levels and GFR calculated by Cockcroft-Gault and modification of diet in renal disease (MDRD) formulations in the patients who received cisplatin-based chemotherapy. We also intended to demonstrate its potential use in the early prediction of the renal function changes in these patients. Materials and methods: In the study, 34 patients receiving cisplatin-based chemotherapy with various malignancies were included. The levels of cisplatin were determined prior to the chemotherapy and at the end of cisplatin infusion during the therapy. GFR was calculated by Cockcroft-Gault and MDRD formulations prior to the therapy and at the end of the third course. Results: A statistically significant linear correlation was found between the serum levels of cystatin C and creatinine prior to the chemotherapy (r ¼ 0.42, p ¼ 0.013). However, there was no correlation among the level of cystatin C subsequent to the cisplatin infusion and serum creatinine level following the third course and MDRD and creatinine clearance-Cockcroft-Gault formulations. Conclusion: Even though the serum cystatin C levels were correlated with the serum creatinine levels in our study, it was concluded that it was not an appropriate parameter to predict the potential impairments in the renal function during the chemotherapy.