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Updated: Jul 17, 2026
03:53
Extracellular Vesicle Tissue Factor Activity Assay
Published on: December 29, 2023
Microvesicle-associated tissue factor and Trousseau's syndrome
I Del Conde1, L D Bharwani, D J Dietzen
1Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis : JTH
|January 24, 2007
Summary
Trousseau's syndrome, a hypercoagulable state linked to cancer, involves significantly elevated tissue factor (TF) in the blood. This TF is primarily carried on microvesicles shed by cancer cells, contributing to severe thrombotic events.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Hematology
- Pathophysiology
Background:
- Trousseau's syndrome is a prothrombotic condition associated with malignancy.
- Its underlying pathophysiology remains poorly understood.
Observation:
- A 55-year-old man with giant-cell lung carcinoma developed severe Trousseau's syndrome.
- He experienced eleven major arterial and venous thrombotic events over five months despite antithrombotic therapy.
Findings:
- The patient exhibited an extremely hypercoagulable state.
- Plasma tissue factor (TF) concentration was 41-fold higher than in normal individuals.
- Nearly all TF was associated with cell-derived microvesicles, likely from cancer cells.
Implications:
- This suggests cancer cell-derived microvesicles carrying TF play a critical role in Trousseau's syndrome.
- Understanding this mechanism could lead to targeted therapies for cancer-associated thrombosis.
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