Clinical significances of variations in main hematological parameters at the time of diagnosis in patients with small cell lung cancer

Introduction. Variations in white blood cell (WBC), hemoglobin (HGB), and platelet (PLT) values, the main components of complete blood count (CBC), are often encountered at the time of diagnosis in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients. Their clinical significance is not fully known; thus, in this retrospective study, the aim was to clarify this interaction. Material and methods. A total of 378 SCLC patients were enrolled in the study and analyzed retrospectively. The CBC values obtained at the time of diagnosis and before the onset of any kind of treatment were collected from patient files. Cut-off laboratory values of the medical center, where a definite diagnosis was first made, were used to evaluate the parameters. Results. The frequency of leukocytosis, anemia, and thrombocytosis in limited-disease SCLC (LD-SCLC) and extended-disease SCLC (ED-SCLC) patients was 29.8 vs. 41.3%, 14.5 vs. 30.4%, and 11.5 vs. 20.6%, respec­tively. Thrombocytosis in LD-SCLC (p = 0.05) and anemia in ED-SCLC (p = 0.008) were statistically significant in poor responders to chemotherapy. Anemic ED-SCLC patients had significantly poorer survivals than those with normal HGB (p = 0.0001); however, there were no significant associations between other CBC components and survival rates in either LD-SCLC or ED-SCLC patients. Moreover, in multivariate analysis, both performance status and chemotherapy responsiveness-maintained significance on survival, but the importance of anemia in ED-SCLC patients disappeared and became non-significant. Conclusions. Variations in CBC parameters are encountered in SCLC patients at the time of diagnosis, and they might be used as predictive and prognostic indicators to foresee the response to chemotherapy and survival.