Tissue Factor Pathway Inhibitor-1 Is a Valuable Marker for the Prediction of Deep Venous Thrombosis and Tumor Metastasis in Patients with Lung Cancer

Activation of blood coagulation contributes to cancer progression. Tissue factor pathway inhibitor-1 (TFPI-1) is the main inhibitor of extrinsic coagulation pathway. The aim of this study is to assess the predicting significance of TFPI-1 for thrombotic complication and metastasis in lung cancer patients. Total of 188 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients were included in this study. Plasma TFPI-1, D-dimer (D-D), antithrombin (AT), Fibrinogen (Fbg), and coagulating factor VIII activity (FVIII:C) were measured. In NSCLC patients, significantly decreased TFPI-1 and AT and increased D-D, Fbg, and FVIII:C levels were observed, and there was a significant correlation between TFPI-1 and other hemostatic parameters (P < 0.001, resp.). NSCLC patients with deep venous thrombosis (DVT) or metastasis had significantly lower TFPI-1 levels than those without DVT or metastasis (P < 0.01, resp.). Multivariate regression revealed that TFPI-1 acted as a predictor for DVT or tumor metastasis in NSCLC patients [OR: 4.15 or 3.28, P < 0.05, resp.]. The area under ROC curve of TFPI-1 was 0.905 (95% CI, 0.842~0.967) or 0.828 (95% CI, 0.742~0.915) for predicting DVT or metastasis (P < 0.001, resp.). The optimal point of TFPI-1 was 57.7 or 54.3 ng/mL for predicting DVT or metastasis, respectively. Combination of TFPI-1 and D-D measurements can improve the predicting power for DVT or metastasis in NSCLC patients. Our findings suggested that TFPI-1 was a valuable predictor of DVT and tumor metastasis in NSCLC patients.