High concentration of the plasma microparticles for venous thromboembolism associated with lung cancer

Limited biomarkers are used for predicting risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) associated with cancer. Circulating microparticles (MPs), especially tissue factor- positive microparticles (TF + MPs), play an important role in the development of cancer-associated VTE. This study investigated the predictive value of plasma MPs and TF + MPs for VTE in lung cancer.

A case-control study was performed using the Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital Lung Cancer Registry. Cases had VTE occurring 3 months before or after a diagnosis of lung cancer. Controls were patients with lung cancer without VTE matched for age, histology and stage. The proportion of MPs and TF + MPs was evaluated by light-scatter-based flow cytometry.

Between January 2012 and December 2015, 30 cases with VTE and 60 controls without VTE were included. The proportion of MPs and TF + MPs was significantly more elevated in patients with VTE than in those without VTE (P < 0.05 for both). By multivariate logistic regression analysis, MPs (OR 1.153; 95% CI 1.068-1.245; P < 0.001) and adenocarcinoma (OR 3.223; 95% CI 1.062-9.782; P = 0.039) were significantly associated with VTE. The sensitivity of the proportion of MPs in diagnosing VTE was 93.3%, and the specificity was 70.0%. The sensitivity of the proportion of TF + MPs in diagnosing VTE was 66.7%, and the specificity was 88.3%. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curves for the diagnostic of the proportion of MPs and TF + MPs values were 0.836 (95% CI 0.750-0.922, P < 0.001) and 0.828 (95% CI 0.736-0.920, P < 0.001) respectively.

The elevated proportion of MPs and TF + MPs might help predict VTE associated with lung cancer.