A normal human platelet count ranges from 150,000 to 450,000 platelets per microlitre of blood.
A platelet count of less than 135,000/µL in patients on antiplatelet therapy is predictive of both radiographic and clinical worsening. This is a clinically relevant target intended to help tailor and improve management in patients on antiplatelet therapy.
Platelet distribution width (PDW) is a platelet index, and is altered in patients with malignancies. The aim of this study was to explore whether PDW can effectively predict death outcome of breast cancer patients.
The clinical data of 271 breast cancer patients in our hospital between January 2009 and December 2009 were retrospectively analyzed. Survival analysis was performed using the log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards regression analysis.
There were significant correlations between increased PDW and tumor size, molecular subtype, differentiation grade, and cancer stages (T, N, or TNM). Moreover, survival analysis revealed that the overall survival of patients with PDW > 16.8%, which was significantly shorter than those with PDW ⩽ 16.8%. Multivariate analysis indicated that PDW > 16.8% predicts a poor overall survival of breast cancer patients.
Elevated PDW may serve as a marker of adverse prognosis in breast cancer. However, these data are preliminary and should be interpreted with caution pending validation by additional clinical and molecular/genomics studies in various populations 1).
see Thrombocytosis