The impact of thrombocytosis on clinicopathological prognostic factors and survival in patients with vulvar cancer

Purpose: Reactive thrombocytosis in many solid tumors has widely been studied. In the present study we aimed to investigate whether thrombocytosis is a common and prognostic factor in women with vulvar cancer. Material & Methods: The preoperative platelet counts of 41 women, treated for vulvar cancer in our onco-gynecology center between March 1994 and January 2007, were retrospectively reviewed and correlated to clinical and pathological prognostic factors and 5-year survival. The chi-square or Fisher exact tests were used to compare categorical variables. P value <0.05 was accepted for statistical significance. Results: The mean age was 65.4+/-11.3 years (range 39-83y). All patients had squamous histology. The mean platelet count was 335.42x109/L +/- 82.03 (range 142-1155x109/L). Thrombocytosis was detected in 8 (19.5%) patients. No correlation was found between thrombocytosis and grade (p=0.65), LVSI (p=0.82), tumor size (p=0.73), depth of invasion (p=0.18), lymph node metastasis (0.93), and FIGO stage (p=0.78). The mean follow up time was 118.0+/-43.1 months (range 60-213 months). At the end of the study period 14 patients (34.2%) had died, 8 (19.5%) had recurrence, 19 (46.3%) were disease-free. General 5-year survival was 68.3% (28/41). The 5-year survival rate for patients with thrombocytosis was 75.0% (6/8), which was not significantly different from the 5-year survival of patients with normal platelet counts (22/33; 66.7%) (p=0.75). Conclusion: Our study showed that, overall, thrombocytosis was found in about 20% of patients with vulvar cancer and proved to be not linked to the best known prognostic factors and survival. Thus, disease stage and inguinofemoral lymph node status continue to be the best prognostic factors for this disease.