IRCCS Istituto Romagnolo per lo Studio dei Tumori (IRST) "Dino Amadori", via P. Maroncelli 40, 47014, Meldola, Italy.
Immunology and Molecular Oncology Diagnostics Unit, Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV-IRCCS, 35128, Padua, Italy.
Cancer Lett. 2024 Dec 28;607:217044. doi: 10.1016/j.canlet.2024.217044. Epub 2024 Jun 12.
Platelets are small circulating anucleated cells mainly involved in thrombosis and hemostasis processes. Moreover, platelets play an active role in tumorigenesis and cancer progression, stimulating angiogenesis and vascular remodelling, and protecting circulating cancer cells from shear forces and immune surveillance. Several reports indicate that platelet number in the blood circulation of cancer patients is associated with prognosis and response to treatment. However, the mechanisms of platelets "education" by cancer cells and the crosstalk between platelets and tumor are still unclear, and the role of "tumor educated platelets" (TEPs) is achieving growing interest in cancer research. TEPs are a biological source of cancer-derived biomarkers, especially RNAs that are protected by platelets membrane from circulating RNases, and could serve as a non-invasive tool for tumor detection, molecular profiling and evolution during therapy in clinical practice. Moreover, short platelet lifespan offers the possibility to get a snapshot assessment of cancer molecular profile, providing a real-time tool. We review and discuss the potential and the clinical utility, in terms of cancer diagnosis and monitoring, of platelet count together with other morphological parameters and of the more recent and innovative TEP profiling.
血小板是一种小型循环无核细胞，主要参与血栓形成和止血过程。此外，血小板在肿瘤发生和癌症进展中发挥着积极的作用，刺激血管生成和血管重塑，并保护循环中的癌细胞免受剪切力和免疫监视。有几项报告表明，癌症患者血液中的血小板数量与预后和治疗反应有关。然而，癌细胞对血小板的“教育”机制以及血小板与肿瘤之间的串扰仍不清楚，“肿瘤教育血小板”（TEP）的作用在癌症研究中引起了越来越多的关注。TEP 是癌症衍生生物标志物的一个生物来源，特别是血小板膜保护免受循环 RNase 破坏的 RNA，并且可以作为一种非侵入性工具，用于在临床实践中检测肿瘤、分子分析和治疗期间的演变。此外，血小板寿命较短，使得对癌症分子谱进行实时评估成为可能。我们综述并讨论了血小板计数以及其他形态参数的潜在临床应用价值，以及更近期和创新性的 TEP 分析。
