Purpose: The platelet distribution width (PDW) is reportedly useful as a prognostic indicator for some cancers. However, its prognostic significance in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is unclear.
Methods: We enrolled 104 patients with thoracic ESCC, who underwent curative esophagectomy.
Results: Receiver operating curve analyses indicated that the optimal cut-off values of pre- and postoperative PDW were 16.9 and 17.0, respectively. The 5-year overall survival (OS) rate was significantly lower in patients with a high-preoperative PDW (≥ 16.9; 52.6%) than in those with a low-preoperative PDW (< 16.9; 61.0% P = 0.045). The 5-year disease-specific survival (DSS) rates were 64.3% in patients with a high-preoperative PDW and 69.3% in those with a low-preoperative PDW (P = 0.13). Regarding the postoperative PDW, the 5-year OS rate was significantly lower in patients with a high-postoperative PDW (≥ 17.0; 35.7%) than in those with a low-postoperative PDW (< 17.0; 66.8% P = 0.0017). The 5-year DSS rates were 52.2% in patients with a high-postoperative PDW and 73.2% in those with a low-postoperative PDW (P = 0.037). Finally, a multivariate analysis revealed that the postoperative PDW but not the preoperative PDW was an independent prognostic factor.
Conclusions: The postoperative PDW was useful for predicting the prognosis of patients with ESCC.
Keywords: Esophageal cancer; Platelet distribution width; Prognosis; Recurrence.