Mean platelet volume (MPV) has been actively investigated in liver disease such as steatosis, cirrhosis and hepatitis. Recently, MPV/platelet count (PC) ratio has been proposed as a predictor of long-term mortality after myocardial infarction. As PC is known to be decreased in various liver diseases such as cirrhosis, hepatosplenomegaly and malignancy, we planned to evaluate MPV/PC ratio in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in this study. Mean of MPV levels showed significant difference, which were 8.69 fl (range 6.7-12.2 fl) in patients group and 8.02 fl in control group (range 6.7-11.0 fl). In receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, the MPV/PC ratio (fl/(10(9)/l)) presented 74.5% of sensitivity and 96.5% of specificity at the criterion > 0.0491 (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.884), while MPV alone showed 57.4% of sensitivity and 81.4% of specificity at the criterion > 8.4 fl. Further studies should evaluate underlying pathogenic mechanisms of MPV/PC ratio difference and various possibilities of this ratio as an indicator of presence of a tumor in HCC.

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Our findings strengthen previous data concerning RUNX1 mutations in AML and support the notion that RUNX1 mutational status should be integrated into a diagnostic workup of AML, particularly for AML NOS or an intermediate-risk group.

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A high prevalence of MG of undetermined significance (MGUS) has been noted in a series of patients with immune disorders, suggesting a possible association with MG. Further studies should focus on determining how MG relates to various clinical information and laboratory parameters, such as disease duration, disease activity and higher sedimentation rate. In the future, we also need to identify which stimuli, such as cytokine types and levels, can induce lymphocyte clonal transformation and the production of monoclonal antibodies.