Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and prognostic significance of an elevated platelet count at the time of the initial diagnosis in patients with cervical cancer who are treated with definitive radiotherapy.

Methods The baseline characteristics and outcome data of cervical cancer patients who were treated with definitive radiotherapy between November 1993 and December 2011 were collected and retrospectively reviewed. The patients were separated into 2 groups according to their platelet counts. The clinicopathological characteristics and overall survival rates of the 2 groups were compared. A Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to investigate the prognostic significance of an elevated platelet count.

Results An elevated platelet count was found to be associated with younger age (P = 0.0003), an advanced clinical stage (P < 0.0001), larger tumors (P = 0.0025), lower hemoglobin levels (P < 0.0001), and more frequent treatment failure (P = 0.0015). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that an advanced clinical stage (hazards ratio [HR], 2.93; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.47–6.70; P = 0.0015), nonsquamous cell carcinoma histology (HR, 2.67; 95% CI, 1.52–4.42; P = 0.0011), larger tumors (HR, 3.86; 95% CI, 2.18–7.03; P < 0.0001), lower hemoglobin levels (HR, 1.99; 95% CI, 1.34–2.93; P = 0.0008), and an elevated platelet count (HR, 1.65; 95% CI, 1.03–2.56; P = 0.0395) were significant predictors of survival.

Conclusions An elevated platelet count at the time of the initial diagnosis is an independent prognostic factor in cervical cancer patients who are treated with definitive radiotherapy.