ABSTRACT
Chemotherapy induced thrombocytopenia (CIT) is a common side-effect of chemotherapy in cancer patients, which lead to dose and cycle reduction or chemotherapy delay, or even the need of platelet transfusion. Therefore, CIT significantly increases the cost of treatment, reduces the efficacy of chemotherapy and the quality of life, and shortens the survival time of patients. The main treatments of CIT include transfusion of platelets, recombinant human thrombopoietin (rhTPO), and recombinant human interleukin-11 (rhIL-11). RhIL-11 is the first approved thrombocytopoietic cytokine. Interleukin-11 has been shown to be effective in the treatment of thrombocytopenia. RhTPO is a recombinant full-length glycosylated thrombopoietin, which is a ligand for c-Mpl protein. Several observations indicated that administration of rhTPO before and after chemotherapy might be beneficial to patients, which enhances platelet recovery and reduces thrombocytopenia after moderately myelosuppressive regimens. In recent years, the application of rhTPO in CIT treatment has dramatically changed the management and treatment plan of CIT. The China Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO) published a consensus on CIT in 2014. Based on this, the expert committee updated "Consensus on clinical diagnosis, treatment and prevention management of chemotherapy induced thrombocytopenia in China (2018)" according to the recent literature and clinical research. The new evidence-based practice consensus for CIT aims to provide more reasonable diagnosis, treatment of prevention regimens for CIT patients to maintain the normal platelet counts.