Plateletcrit as a prognostic marker in Hodgkin lymphoma: A pilot study

Plateletcrit for Hodgkin lymphoma

Abstract

Background/Aim: Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a lymphoproliferative malignancy associated with inflammation. Plateletcrit (PCT) is a mean platelet volume (MPV) and platelet count-derived marker that is useful for evaluating malignancies and inflammatory diseases. International Prognostic Score (IPS-7) and more recently, IPS-3, are two indices indicating the prognosis of patients; however, widespread and easy to interpret prognostic markers are still needed for HL evaluation. Very few studies evaluating the prognostic significance of platelet indices in HL have been published, so we aimed to show the relationship between PCT and other adverse prognostic factors in HL and evaluate whether PCT can be used as a prognostic marker in HL.

Methods: After excluding patients with insufficient data, 75 patients diagnosed with HL and 150 healthy controls were retrospectively analyzed in this case-control study. Evaluation of relationship of PCT and adverse HL prognostic factors, such as age, gender, hemoglobin, leukocytes, lymphocytes (absolute value and percentage), albumin, Ann Arbor stage and B symptoms, IPS-3 and-7 prognostic scores and post-treatment relapse, and progression-free survival of the patients were studied.

Results: Mean MPV values were significantly lower, mean platelet values were significantly higher inpatient group (all P<0.001). Patients with high sedimentation had significantly higher mean PCT than those without (P=0.031) and a moderately positive correlation between PCT and sedimentation were found (r=0.33, P<0.01). Mean PCT values after treatment significantly decreased compared to baseline levels (P<0.001).

Conclusion: PCT may be useful as a prognostic marker in HL. Further studies were needed to evaluate the relationship between PCT and other prognostic factors, such as IPS-3 and -7.