Analysis of plasma fibrinogen in evaluating the effectiveness and prognosis of polyradiomodifying therapy of malignant tumors of the upper respiratory tract

: Patients with malignant tumors of the upper respiratory tract showed higher concentrations of fibrinogen in plasma the level of which was correlated with the stage of disease. Measurements of the protein in the course of radiation therapy demonstrated that two months after effective treatment fibrinogen concentrations decreased to normal values and remained at that level throughout the remission time. If radiation therapy was ineffective, fibrinogen concentrations remained high during 2 to 4 months after exposure. Metastases and recurrent tumors caused a drastic increase in the fibrinogen content, the change occasionally occurring prior to clinical manifestations. In view of this, plasma fibrinogen can be recommended as an additional measure that can be used to evaluate therapy effectiveness, to prognose the course of disease and to identify metastases in patients with malignant tumors of the upper respiratory tract.