ObjectiveTo explore the prognostic value of fasting blood glucose concentration in patients with newly diagnosed lung cancer.MethodsThe clinical data of 956 patients with lung cancer who were first diagnosed at West China Hospital of Sichuan University between January 2008 and December 2011 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were followed up for more than 5 years. Using the fasting blood glucose concentration of 6.1 mmol/L as the cut-off value, the patients were divided into the hyperglycemia group and the control group. Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis, and log-rank test was used to analyze the survival of different groups. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard models were used to evaluate the prognostic variables.ResultsThere were 166 patients in the hyperglycemia group with a 5-year overall survival rate of 23.5%, and 790 patients in the control group with a 5-year survival rate of 30.8%, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P=0.008). Univariate Cox proportional hazard analysis found that blood glucose concentration, gender, age, smoking history, staging, and whether surgery were factors that affected the 5-year survival rate of patients (P<0.05); multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis showed that blood glucose concentration [hazard ratio (HR)=1.235, 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.013, 1.504), P=0.036], age [HR=1.305, 95%CI (1.110, 1.534), P=0.001], smoking history [HR=1.210, 95%CI (1.033, 1.418), P=0.018], staging [HR=1.546, 95%CI (1.172, 2.040), P=0.002], and whether surgical treatment [HR=0.330, 95%CI (0.257, 0.424), P<0.001] were independent factors which influenced 5-year survival rate. Blood glucose concentration, age, smoking history, and staging were independent risk factors.ConclusionFasting blood glucose concentration is able to be a prognostic factor for patients with newly diagnosed lung cancer.