Therapeutic
plasma exchange is used as a trial method for the treatment of
cancer patients. Therapeutic
plasma exchange uses in vitro technology to remove pathogenic factors in the plasma, returning the replacement and remaining components to the patient to facilitate cure. In the effort to explore new methods of
cancer treatment, the introduction of therapeutic
plasma exchange brings new hope for
cancer treatment; however, the current evidence supporting therapeutic
plasma exchange is controversial, and most of the evidence comes from observational studies, lacking large prospective randomized trials. Therefore, this review attempts to focus on the main indications of therapeutic
plasma exchange for the treatment of
tumors and their complications, including hematological
tumors (
multiple myeloma cast nephropathy and hyperviscosity syndrome),
nervous system tumors (
myasthenia gravis associated with
thymoma, paraneoplastic neurological
syndrome, Lambert-Eaton myasthenia syndrome, and
anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis), overdose of
chemotherapy drugs. In addition, the issues of side-effects and safety in the use of therapeutic
plasma exchange are also discussed. However, well-designed prospective trials are needed to better define the role of therapeutic
plasma exchange in
cancer.