title: Clinical significance of circulating microparticles for venous thromboembolism in cancer patients.
abstract: Cancer patients have a four- to seven-fold increased risk to develop a venous thromboembolic event. Accumulating evidence from experimental and clinical studies indicates that microparticles (MPs), small procoagulant membrane vesicles that are defined by size and a negatively charged phosphatidylserine rich surface, play an important role in the pathogenesis of cancer-related venous thromboembolism (VTE). However, the clinical significance of MPs as a predictive biomarker for VTE in cancer patients has not been fully elucidated yet. This might be due to unresolved methodological problems and a lack of data from large prospective clinical studies that investigate the role of MPs in cancer-related VTE.  It is the aim of this review to give an overview on the most important characteristics of MPs and studies dealing with the role of MPs in cancer-related VTE. Also recent progresses, unresolved problems and future perspectives in this research field will be discussed. In the conclusion we will assess the clinical significance of MPs in cancer-related VTE.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Division of Haematology and Haemostaseology, Department of Medicine I, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria. johannes.thaler@meduniwien.ac.at
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thaler
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ay
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pabinger
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D055252:Cell-Derived Microparticles / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D054556:Venous Thromboembolism / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*