Association between Preoperative Platelets Count and Tumor Stage in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Patients. Results of an Observational Study
Nobili C1, Degrate L1, Franciosi C1, Caprotti R1, Leone BE2, Trezzi R2, Perego E1, Uggeri Fa1, Uggeri Fr1
Departments of 1Surgery and Clinical 2Pathology, San Gerardo Hospital, University of ‘Milano-Bicocca’. Monza (MI), Italy
ABSTRACT
Context Platelets (PTL) and PTL-derived factors are thought to participate in tumor progression and metastasis; increased preoperative PTL count is associated with more invasive pancreatic adenocarcinomas. Aim To investigate the relationship between preoperative PTL count and tumor stage in pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients. Methods Between September 2002 and March 2006, 26 patients underwent complete surgical pancreatic resections. Patients were divided into 2 groups, basing on preoperative PTL level ≥300 mL-1 (group A) or <300 mL-1 (group B), that is the median level of the normal PTL range provided by our laboratory. Group A included 2 pancreaticoduodenectomies (PD), 2 splenopancreatectomies (SP) and 1 total pancreatectomy, while group B included 16 PD and 5 SP. The histopathologic analysis showed pancreatic adenocarcinoma in all surgical specimens. Tumor extension (T), nodal status (N), tumor differentiation (G), and perineural invasion were assessed for each specimen. Results The two patients groups showed the same tumor proportion concerning TN stage and perineural invasion: the majority of the cancers was T3N1 and positive for perineural invasion. Nevertheless, the only difference was that in group A 80.0% of tumors was G3, while in group B this grading was present only for 38.1%. Conclusion. Our observational results suggest that preoperative platelet count ≥300 mL-1 may be associated with poorly differentiated pancreatic adenocarcinomas. These observations may be valuable in the setting of antiplatelet chemotherapeutic agents studies.
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