Pretreatment serum albumin concentration and lactic dehydrogenase activity as prognostic factors in patients with small cell lung cancer.

Pretreatment laboratory parameters were analyzed as prognostic factors in patients with small cell lung cancer. Serum lactic dehydrogenase activity, serum albumin concentration, PPD skin reaction, and peripheral lymphocyte count were of prognostic importance. When these factors were evaluated by multivariate analysis together with performance status and disease extent, lactic dehydrogenase and albumin were the most influential factors related to survival.