Usefulness of short‑term eltrombopag treatment as a supportive treatment in hepatocellular carcinoma patients with cirrhosis and severe thrombocytopenia: A report of two cases

Kawaguchi,Takumi; Nakano,Masahito; Satani,Manabu; Sumie,Shuji; Yamada,Shingo; Amano,Keisuke; Kuromatsu,Ryoko; Sata,Michio

doi:10.3892/ol.2014.1976

June-2014 Volume 7 Issue 6

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June-2014 Volume 7 Issue 6

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Article

Usefulness of short‑term eltrombopag treatment as a supportive treatment in hepatocellular carcinoma patients with cirrhosis and severe thrombocytopenia: A report of two cases

Authors:
- Takumi Kawaguchi
- Masahito Nakano
- Manabu Satani
- Shuji Sumie
- Shingo Yamada
- Keisuke Amano
- Ryoko Kuromatsu
- Michio Sata
View Affiliations / Copyright

Affiliations: Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Fukuoka 830‑0011, Japan
Pages: 2130-2134
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Published online on: March 14, 2014

https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2014.1976
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Abstract

Eltrombopag is an oral thrombopoietin (TPO) receptor agonist that increases platelet counts in patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and in patients with liver cirrhosis. When cirrhotic patients with thrombocytopenia undergo elective invasive procedures, eltrombopag treatment reduces the requirement for platelet transfusions. However, TPO is known to have proliferative effects on hepatic progenitor cells and hepatic sinusoidal endothelial cells, which indicates that eltrombopag may accelerate tumor progression. Thus, the effect of eltrombopag on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression is an important issue. The current study describes two cases of HCC with cirrhosis‑related thrombocytopenia. A two‑week administration of eltrombopag increased platelet counts from 4.8 to 11.3x104 /µl in case 1 and 4.5 to 23.2x104 /µl in case 2. However, no changes were identified in the serum levels of tumor markers or HCC size following eltrombopag administration in the two cases. These HCCs were curatively treated by radiofrequency ablation without platelet transfusions or serious bleeding. Thus, short‑term eltrombopag administration may not accelerate HCC proliferation and may be beneficial for invasive HCC treatment in cirrhotic patients with thrombocytopenia.

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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

Usefulness of short‑term eltrombopag treatment as a supportive treatment in hepatocellular carcinoma patients with cirrhosis and severe thrombocytopenia: A report of two cases

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