Chemotherapy induced
thrombocytopenia (
CIT) is a common side-effect of
chemotherapy in
cancer patients, which lead to dose and cycle reduction or
chemotherapy delay, or even the need of
platelet transfusion. Therefore,
CIT significantly increases the cost of treatment, reduces the efficacy of
chemotherapy and the quality of life, and shortens the survival time of patients. The main treatments of
CIT include transfusion of platelets, recombinant human
thrombopoietin (rhTPO), and recombinant human
interleukin-11 (rhIL-11).
RhIL-11 is the first approved thrombocytopoietic
cytokine.
Interleukin-11 has been shown to be effective in the treatment of
thrombocytopenia. RhTPO is a recombinant full-length glycosylated
thrombopoietin, which is a
ligand for c-Mpl
protein. Several observations indicated that administration of rhTPO before and after
chemotherapy might be beneficial to patients, which enhances platelet recovery and reduces
thrombocytopenia after moderately myelosuppressive regimens. In recent years, the application of rhTPO in
CIT treatment has dramatically changed the management and treatment plan of
CIT. The China Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO) published a consensus on
CIT in 2014. Based on this, the expert committee updated "Consensus on clinical diagnosis, treatment and prevention management of
chemotherapy induced
thrombocytopenia in China (2018)" according to the recent literature and clinical research. The new evidence-based practice consensus for
CIT aims to provide more reasonable diagnosis, treatment of prevention regimens for
CIT patients to maintain the normal platelet counts.