Effects of some antineoplastic drugs (vincristine, doxorubicin and epirubicin) on human platelet aggregation.

The effects of some antineoplastic drugs (vincristine, doxorubicin and epirubicin) on collagen- and ADP-induced human platelet aggregation are investigated. Platelet rich plasma (PRP) and platelet poor plasma (PPP) from healthy male and female donors were used. The PRP was adjusted with analogous PPP to 300,000 platelets/microliters. Platelet aggregation was studied according to Born's turbidimetric technique using an Aggrecorder II PA 3220 with collagen at a concentration of 10 micrograms/ml and ADP at a concentration of 30 microM. Vincristine, doxorubicin and epirubicin significantly (p < 0.01) inhibited collagen- and ADP-induced platelet aggregation. The vincristine induced inhibition was higher than that induced by doxorubicin or epirubicin. The effects of doxorubicin and epirubicin were more intense on ADP-induced platelet aggregation than on the collagen induced one. Moreover, the doxorubicin inhibition of ADP-induced platelet aggregation was greater than the epirubicin one. In conclusion, our study shows that vincristine, doxorubicin and epirubicin inhibit human platelet aggregation. The present results may improve the therapeutic use of these drugs since it has been clearly shown that drugs with antiplatelet activity could block metastases.