Background: Chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia (CIT) is an important cause of morbitity in patients with cancer.
Aim: To investigate the effect of the baseline plasma D-dimer level, an important marker for thrombotic activity, on chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia in patients with stage III colon cancer.
Materials and methods: A total of 43 (28 men) eligible patients were divided into two groups according to whether they exhibited chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia: Group 1 (n=21) and Group 2 (n=22). Comparison was made using demographic, histopathologic, and laboratory variables. Additionally, baseline plasma D-dimer levels underwent receiver operation characteristics curve analysis, and areas under the curve were calculated. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative likelihood rates were then determined.
Results: The incidence of chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia had a significant correlation with baseline platelet count (r=0.568, P=0.031) and baseline plasma D-dimer levels (r=0.617, P=0.036). When the cut-off point for the latter was set as 498 ng/mL, the area under the curve was 0.89 (95%CI: 0.74-0.93), the sensitivity was 91.4%, the specificity was 89.7%, the positive likelihood rate was 3.64 and the negative likelihood rate was 0.24 for chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia diagnosis.
Conclusions: The baseline level of plasma D-dimer could help to differentiate high- risk patients for chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia.