Therapeutic Plasma Exchange: For Cancer Patients

Abstract

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.

Frequency of Hypocalcemia in Patients Undergoing Plasmapheresis

“…A cell splitter is employed to separate the plasma from the blood. Unlike traditional Plasmapheresis, which initially keeps the plasma, which includes the antibodies, before giving it to the patient, therapy-receiving patients receive their blood cells back after the plasma has been separated (4). During the plasma exchange operation, the detached plasma is removed, and the patient is given albumin, spare donor plasma, or an albumin and salt mixture, frequently made up of 70% albumin and 30% salt.…”