Degirmencioglu S, Ugurlu E and Yaren A
New indicators and more effective treatments are required to monitor the disease in advanced non-small cell lungcancer (NSCLC) due to less favorable prognosis. The purpose of our study is to evaluate the effects of serum thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels on prognosis and survival in NSCLC patients. Sixty seven patients (62 males and 5 females) and 20 healthy volunteers (16 males and 4 female) were included in the study. Demographic, laboratory data and serum TSH levels of these two groups were compared. Statistically significantly reduced serum TSH levels were detected in patient group versus control group (p=0.000). In our study, median survival time of patients with reduced TSH value was 225 days, while median survival time of patients with normal TSH value was 385 days; and the statistically difference was significant (p=0.03). These results indicate that TSH can be a physiological factor in both carcinogenesis and progression of the diseases