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The risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE) is greater for patients with brain tumors than for those with most other neoplasms, but the reasons for this vulnerability are unclear.
To determine whether VTE is associated with podoplanin, a potentially thrombogenic glycoprotein expressed by malignant gliomas, investigators conducted a prospective observational cohort study of 213 patients with newly diagnosed cancer or progressive disease. Of these patients, 84% had either glioblastomas or anaplastic astrocytomas. Tumor podoplanin expression was quantitated by immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry.
Results were as follows:
Patients with podoplanin-positive tumors had lower platelet counts (P<0.007) and higher levels of d-dimer (P<0.001).
Podoplani…