Research progress of platelet apoptosis mechanism in antineoplastic drugs-induced thrombopenia / 解放军医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Platelets are the blood cells essential for human hemostasis, wound healing and human health. Drug-induced thrombopenia refers to a disease in which the drug causes platelet counts fall below the normal range (<100×109/L), resulting in a series of symptoms, including bleeding, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain, etc. The antineoplastic drugs-induced thrombopenia increases not only the potential bleeding risk of patients, but may also reduce the dose of anti-tumor drugs and prolong the treatment interval, or even lead to the ceasing of antitumor therapy in serious cases, which affects the clinical efficacy and survival of patients, leading to the increased medical costs. In recent years, a large number of studies have confirmed that antineoplastic drugs-induced thrombopenia is a disease caused through a non-immune-mediation, including platelet apoptosis. The research status has been reviewed in present paper of platelet apoptosis mechanism in antineoplastic drugs-induced thrombopenia to provide theoretical basis for clinical practice and scientific research.