Elevated preoperative plasma D-dimer dose not adversely affect survival of gastric cancer after gastrectomy with curative intent: A propensity score analysis

Elevated plasma D-dimer has been reported to be associated with advanced tumor stage and poor survival in several types of malignancies. The purpose of this study was to assess the potential impact of preoperative plasma D-dimer level (PDL) on overall survival (OS) of gastric cancer (GC) patients undergoing curative surgery by applying propensity score analysis. A total of 1,025 curatively resected GC patients in Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital were enrolled. Patients were categorized into two groups based on preoperative PDL: the elevated group (EG) and the normal group (NG). To overcome bias due to the different distribution of covariates for the two groups, a one-to-one match was applied using propensity score analysis, after matching, prognostic factors were analyzed. In analysis for the whole study series, patients in the EG were more likely to have a larger proportion of tumor size ≥5 cm (67.5% . 55.8%, P=0.006), elder mean age (64.0±10.8 years . 60.5±11.6 years, P