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Occurrence of immune thrombocytopenic purpura in patients with nonhematologic cancers: a systematic review of clinical evidence from case reports
Colleges of 1Medicine and 2Public Health, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK
Multiple case reports have described the occurrence of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) in patients with nonhematologic cancers. To evaluate the evidence for an association of these disorders unrelated to apparent etiologies for thrombocytopenia, such as treatment-related bone marrow suppression or bone marrow metastases, we performed a systematic review to identify and analyze all case reports; fifty patients are described in published reports. The frequency of cancer types associated with ITP is similar to the frequency of different cancer types in the population. Two reports suggest a relationship between tumor burden and the platelet count—platelet counts increased with better control of the cancer. Current evidence does not support an etiologic association between ITP and nonhematologic cancers. Definitive documentation will require a prospective cohort study of consecutive cancer patients
| Commun Oncol 2008;5:260–263 | full text |  222 kb |