Cellular cannibalism and consequent thrombocytopenia in a patient with bone marrow metastasis of malignant pleural mesothelioma: A case report

Nishikubo,Megumi; Kin,Yasuo; Tane,Shinya; Nakamura,Koji; Miyagi,Yoshimi; Miura,Akiko; Nishio,Wataru; Senzaki,Hideto; Uchino,Kazuya

doi:10.3892/mco.2021.2325

August-2021 Volume 15 Issue 2

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August-2021 Volume 15 Issue 2

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Case Report Open Access

Cellular cannibalism and consequent thrombocytopenia in a patient with bone marrow metastasis of malignant pleural mesothelioma: A case report

Authors:
- Megumi Nishikubo
- Yasuo Kin
- Shinya Tane
- Koji Nakamura
- Yoshimi Miyagi
- Akiko Miura
- Wataru Nishio
- Hideto Senzaki
- Kazuya Uchino
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Affiliations: Department of General Thoracic Surgery, Osaka Saiseikai Nakatsu Hospital, Shibata, Kita‑ku, Osaka 530‑0012, Japan, Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Osaka Saiseikai Nakatsu Hospital, Shibata, Kita‑ku, Osaka 530‑0012, Japan, Division of Pathology, Osaka Saiseikai Nakatsu Hospital, Shibata, Kita‑ku, Osaka 530‑0012, Japan, Department of Hematology, Osaka Saiseikai Nakatsu Hospital, Shibata, Kita‑ku, Osaka 530‑0012, Japan, Division of Chest Surgery, Hyogo Cancer Center, Kitaouji‑cho, Akashi 673‑8558, Japan

Copyright: © Nishikubo et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.
Article Number: 163
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Published online on: June 16, 2021

https://doi.org/10.3892/mco.2021.2325
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Abstract

Cellular cannibalism is a tumor activity where a cell is engulfed by another cell. This process promotes tumor cell survival under unfavorable conditions. The current report describes an extremely rare case of thrombocytopenia resulting from cellular cannibalism in a patient with bone marrow metastasis due to malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). A 77‑year‑old male presented with hemothorax and thrombocytopenia. He was diagnosed with MPM of the sarcomatoid cell type. However, his disease progressed rapidly and he died 11 days after admission. Bone marrow aspiration revealed metastatic MPM cells that had engulfed other blood cells. Accordingly, the observed thrombocytopenia was attributed to cellular cannibalism by metastatic MPM tumor cells. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of thrombocytopenia due to cellular cannibalism in a patient with this type of malignancy (MPM). The results suggested that although MPM rarely metastasizes to the bone marrow, bone marrow aspiration could be useful in such cases.

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Journals

International Journal of Molecular Medicine

International Journal of Oncology

Molecular Medicine Reports

Oncology Reports

Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine

Oncology Letters

Biomedical Reports

Molecular and Clinical Oncology

World Academy of Sciences Journal

International Journal of Functional Nutrition

International Journal of Epigenetics

Medicine International

Cellular cannibalism and consequent thrombocytopenia in a patient with bone marrow metastasis of malignant pleural mesothelioma: A case report

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