title: Elevated mean platelet volume is associated with presence of colon cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Colon cancer is the second most common cancer in developed countries. Activated platelets play a key role in inflammation and atherothrombosis, with mean platelet volume (MPV) is an early marker of platelet activation. The aim of the study was to clarify the relevance of MPV in patients with colon cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  We measured MPV levels in 128 patients with colon cancer before and after surgery, and 128 controls matched for age, gender, body mass index (BMI) and smoking status. The odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for colon cancer were calculated using multivariate logistic regression analyses across MPV quartiles.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with colon cancer had higher MPV compared with controls. Surgical tumor resection resulted in a significant decrease in MPV levels (11.4 fL vs 10.7 fL; p<0.001). A positive correlation between MPV and tumor-nodule-metastases (TNM) stage was found. Furthermore, after adjusting for other risk factors, the ORs (95%CIs) for colon cancer according to MPV quartiles were 1.000, 2.238 (1.014-4.943), 3.410 (1.528-7.613), and 5.379 (2.372-12.198), respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings show that patients with colon cancer have higher MPV levels compared with controls, and these are reduced after surgery. In addition, MPV was found to be independently associated with the presence of colon cancer. Further studies are warranted to assess the utility of MPV as a novel diagnostic screening tool for colon cancer.
authors.affiliation: Colorectal Cancer Surgery Department, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China E-mail : ruitaowang@126.com, wxshan1208@yahoo.com.cn.
authors.forename: Jia-Ying
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Rui-Tao
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xi-Shan
authors.initials: XS
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D063847:Mean Platelet Volume; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015539:Platelet Activation