For all-cause death analysis, in the multivariate Cox regression analysis (Table 3), when the cut-off value of age was set at 60 years and the CRP count cut-off was 14.1 mg/L, age [hazard ratio (HR): 10.7, confidence interval (CI): 2.5–44.9, P < 0.001), undergoing chemotherapy (HR: 9.5, CI: 2.7–32.9, P < 0.001), pleural effusion on CT image (HR: 5.74, CI: 1.6–20.8, P = 0.008), and CRP count (HR: 6.3, CI: 1.2–34.3, P = 0.033) were found to be independent risk factors for mortality. Here, CRP is linked to Pleural effusion.