Plasma Soluble Podoplanin as a Biomarker of Hypercoagulability and Cellular Immunity Status in Patients With Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Podoplanin (PDPN) is known to play a role in thrombosis, metastasis of tumor cells, the epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), and immune response. The present study aim to evaluate the clinical significance of soluble PDPN (sPDPN) in hypercoagulability and cellular immune status in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to determine plasma sPDPN levels, and T-lymphocyte distribution was determined using flow cytometry. The levels of sPDPN were markedly higher in the NSCLC group than control group, and sPDPN was higher in patients with advanced-stage and with distant metastases. The high-sPDPN group had lower absolute numbers of CD3+, CD4+, and CD4+/CD8+ ratio than low-sPDPN group. Correlation analysis indicated that sPDPN was positively linked to platelet (r = 0.50, P < .001), D-dimer (r = 0.52, P < .001), and fibrinogen (r = 0.37, P < .001); and inversely correlated with CD3+ (r = −0.37, P < .001), CD4+ (r = −0.44, P < .001), and CD4+/CD8+ (r = −0.37, P < .001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that sPDPN (odds ratio [OR] = 2.293; 95% CI, 1.559−3.373) and tumor stage (OR = 15.857; 95% CI, 1.484−169.401) were separate risk indicators for hypercoagulability. The receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC) indicated that sPDPN had high diagnostic values for hypercoagulability in NSCLC patients. In conclusion, plasma sPDPN was not only linked to hypercoagulability, but it may also be an indicator of the body's cellular immune status in NSCLC patients.