A retrospective multicenter study of the prognostic impacts of platelet
augmentation and antiplatelet therapy on hepatoblastoma
Abstract
Background: Hepatoblastoma (HB) combined with secondary
thrombocytosis is a common clinical condition. There is still no
consensus on the need for antiplatelet therapy in patients with both HB
and secondary thrombocytosis. Methods: We conducted a
retrospective study of 229 children with HB who visited and were
followed up at three hospitals from July 2013 to July 2019. Kaplan-Meier
analysis was used to calculate overall survival (OS), the log-rank test
was used to compare the survival rate between groups, and a multivariate
Cox proportional hazards model was constructed to estimate the hazard
ratios (HRs) of independent prognostic factors. Results: The
one-year, three-year, and five-year OS of 229 children was 90.9, 83.0,
and 79.7%, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that age
>96 months, metastasis, antiplatelet therapy, and
AFP<100ng/ml were independent risk factors for OS, while tumor
rupture and PLT >450x10 9/L were not.
Among the intermediate-risk children in the high platelet group, the
survival rate after antiplatelet therapy was 52.3±6.1%, which was
significantly lower than that following non-antiplatelet therapy
(82.6±5.1%) ( P=0.036). Conclusion: Our findings
confirm that secondary thrombocytosis is not an independent risk factor
of OS in HB. We don’t recommend antiplatelet therapy for children with
hepatoblastoma combined with secondary thrombocytosis.