Prognostic significance of mean platelet volume in patients with lung cancer: a meta-analysis

Abstract

Objective The mean platelet volume (MPV) is a measure of platelet size, and it is considered a surrogate marker of platelet activation. Because the correlation between platelet count/size and lung cancer prognosis remains unclear, this meta-analysis comprehensively evaluated the prognostic significance of MPV among patients with lung cancer. Methods A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, Google Scholar, and additional sources of relevant studies were conducted with no language restrictions from inception to 7 May 2021. Overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS)/progression-free survival (PFS), as well as their hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), were pooled to evaluate the relationship between MPV and survival. The study protocol was registered on PROSPERO. Results Eleven studies involving 2421 patients with lung cancer were included in our analysis. Nine studies including only patients with non-small cell lung cancer were included in the meta-analysis. Our analysis revealed no significant associations of MPV with OS (HR = 1.09, 95% CI = 0.84–1.41) and DFS/PFS (HR = 1.13, 95% CI = 0.58–2.20). Conclusion Pretreatment MPV levels did not display prognostic significance in patients with NSCLC. Large-scale prospective studies and a validation study considering ethnicity and lung cancer staging are warranted.