Abstract
Activated platelets are involved in cancer development and progression. Mean platelet volume (MPV) and platelet distribution width (PDW) are early indexes of platelet activation. The objectives of this study were to investigate the ability of MPV, PDW and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) individually or in combination, to distinguish between gastric cancer and gastric ulcer. The study involved 194 patients with gastric cancer, 191 patients with gastric ulcer, and 185 control subjects. Subjects’ characteristics and hematologic tests data at initial diagnosis were collected. We found that MPV levels are significantly increased and PDW levels are significantly reduced in patients with gastric ulcer and in control subjects compared with those in gastric cancer. When the area under the curve (AUC) was used to analyze control subjects versus gastric cancer, the combination of PDW and CEA exhibited a significantly larger AUC of 0.939 (0.910-0.961) compared with the combination of MPV and CEA (p = 0.0045). When AUC was used to analyze gastric ulcer versus gastric cancer, PDW alone had the high specificity (98.5%) and high sensitivity (97.4%). In conclusion, combined use of MPV, PDW and CEA can accurately distinguish gastric cancer from gastric ulcer and controls. Further studies in larger samples are warranted.
Highlights
Gastric ulcer is positively associated with the risk of developing gastric cancer [1]
Mean platelet volume (MPV) and Platelet distribution width (PDW) levels in gastric cancer, gastric ulcer, and control group are shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2
We found that MPV levels are significantly increased and PDW levels are significantly reduced in patients with gastric ulcer and in control subjects compared with gastric cancer
Summary
Gastric ulcer is positively associated with the risk of developing gastric cancer [1]. Clinical symptoms of early gastric cancer could not be used to distinguish gastric cancer from ulcers. Endoscopy test offers high diagnostic accuracy, it is inconvenient and could lead to additional complications. Additional markers to distinguish early gastric cancer from ulcers are necessary. Activated platelets are involved in cancer progression and metastases [2, 3]. Mean platelet volume (MPV) is a marker of activated platelets and is associated with gastric cancer, ovarian cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, and breast cancer [4,5,6,7,8]. Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) has been widely used as a diagnostic, screening, and monitoring marker in clinical practice.
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