Platelets are associated with xenograft tumor growth and the clinical malignancy of ovarian cancer through an angiogenesis-dependent mechanism

Platelets are known to facilitate tumor metastasis and thrombocytosis has been associated with an adverse prognosis in ovarian cancer. However, the role of platelets in primary tumour growth remains to be elucidated. The present study demonstrated that the expression levels of various markers in platelets, endothelial adherence and angiogenesis, including, platelet glycoprotein IIb (CD41), platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule 1 (CD31), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), lysyl oxidase, focal adhesion kinase and breast cancer anti-estrogen resistance 1, were expressed at higher levels in patients with malignant carcinoma, compared with those with borderline cystadenoma and cystadenoma. In addition, the endothelial markers CD31 and VEGF were found to colocalize with the platelet marker CD41 in the malignant samples. Since mice transplanted with human ovarian cancer cells (SKOV3) demonstrated elevated tumor size and decreased survival rate when treated with thrombin or thrombopoietin (TPO), the platelets appeared to promote primary tumor growth. Depleting platelets using antibodies or by pretreating the cancer cells with hirudin significantly attenuated the transplanted tumor growth. The platelets contributed to late, but not early stages of tumor proliferation, as mice treated with platelet-depleting antibody 1 day prior to and 11 days after tumor transplantation had the same tumor volumes. By contrast, tumor size in the early TPO-injected group was increased significantly compared with the late TPO-injected group. These findings suggested that the interplay between platelets and angiogenesis may contribute to ovarian cancer growth. Therefore, platelets and their associated signaling and adhesive molecules may represent potential therapeutic targets for ovarian cancer.