Mean platelet volume as a predictive marker for venous thromboembolism in patients treated for Hodgkin lymphoma

Mean platelet volume (MPV) is reported to be associated with the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) and mortality in patients with cancer. We sought to determine the association of MPV with symptomatic VTE occurrence in patients treated for newly diagnosed Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and their outcomes. We retrospectively studied 167 consecutive adult patients treated with HL. During first-line treatment 12 (7.2%) patients developed VTE and 14 (8%) died within the observation period. The pre-chemotherapy values of MPV were significantly lower in VTE patients than those without (p=0.0343). Patients with MPV≤25^th percentile (6.8 fl) had an increased risk of VTE occurrence (p=0.0244). In multivariate analysis, MPV≤25^th percentile (OR 2.21; 95%CI 1.07-4.57, p=0.033), advanced stage (OR 2.08; 95%CI 1.06-4.07, p=0.033) and bulky disease (OR 2.23; 95%CI 1.16-4.31, p=0.016) were significant factors for developing VTE. Only the impact of MPV≤25^th percentile on VTE-free survival rates was found. VTE occurred in 43% (n=3) of the high-risk patients of the Thrombosis Lymphoma (ThroLy) score and in 17% (n=2) of the high-risk of the Khorana Risk Score (KRS). Neither the KRS nor the ThroLy score could identify patients at a high risk of VTE with a high degree of accuracy. We expanded the ThroLy score with the addition of the MPV≤25^th percentile to more accurately identify HL patients with a higher risk of VTE. Our study indicates that the pre-chemotherapy MPV value, while of no use as an overall prognosis predictor, may still represent a useful prognostic marker for a significant VTE risk especially when incorporated into VTE-risk assessment models.