Lower mean platelet volume is a risk indicator of hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence following liver transplantation

Abstract Background Lower mean platelet volume (MPV) is an indicator of platelet activity in the setting of tumor development. This study was to assess the relationship between preoperative MPV and survival outcomes of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) following liver transplantation (LT). Methods The demographic and clinical characteristics of 304 HCC patients following LT were retrieved from an LT database. All the patients were divided into the normal and lower MPV groups according to the median MPV. The factors were first analyzed using a Kaplan–Meier survival analysis, then the factors with P Results The 1-, 3-, and 5-year tumor free survival was 95.34%, 74.67% and 69.29% in the normal MPV group, respectively, and 95.40%, 59.97% and 42.94% in the lower MPV group, respectively ( P P P  = 0.03) were identified as independent prognostic risk factors for recipient survival. Conclusion Preoperative lower MPV is a risk indicator of HCC patients survival outcomes after LT.