Although it is still unclear whether larger platelets actively participates to the pathogenesis of human diseases or their appearance represents a simple epiphenomenon of an underlying derangement of platelet biology, several lines of evidence seemingly attest that these blood elements may play an active role in certain pathologies, such as myocardial infarction, venous thromboembolism, cancer, and severe infections. The mean platelet volume is a simple measure of platelet size, which is automatically generated by virtually all modern hematologic analyzers. Its measurement should hence be regarded as a valuable perspective of clinical outcome prediction.
Keywords: cancer; mean platelet volume; platelets; prognosis; thrombosis.