CONTROVERSIES IN GYNECOLOGICAL CANCERS Is There Any Difference in Platelets Indices Between Benign and Malignant Epithelial Tumors of the Ovary? Setare Nassiri 1 • Shahrzad Sheikh Hassani 1 • Fateme Saboctacin 1 • Azamosadat Mousavi 1 • Mitra Modarres Gilani 1 • Setare Akhavan 1 Received: 23 August 2017 / Accepted: 4 October 2017 / Published online: 18 December 2017 Ó Association of Gynecologic Oncologists of India 2017 Abstract Background Ovarian cancer is the most common cause of death among gynecologic malignancies around the world, and there are numerous criteria in preoperative differenti- ation between benign and malignant ovarian mass. The interaction between cancer and platelets is not yet properly known. Here in, we decided to perform a study about platelets indices in benign and malignant ovarian neoplasm to be the basis for the next conclusion. Method This study is a descriptive and analytic cross- sectional study and the community consists of patient with epithelial ovarian mass who referred to our Gynecology Oncology center of Imam Hospital of Iran. The information about platelet indices in pre-operational period, extracted from the patients files. Then data were analyzed and descriptive statistics using SPSS software were performed on them. To compare variables between two groups, patients with benign and patients with malignant epithelial ovarian tumors, we used t test. Result Considering the significance of P value below 0.05, there was a significant difference between two groups in WBC count, MCV and Hb, but in platelet count and pla- telet indices, there were no significant differences. Conclusion According to our knowledge, our study is the first one about platelet indices difference, between malig- nant and non-malignant neoplasm of the ovary. In our research, the mean of platelets count and platelets indexes did not differ between the two groups. In most studies, the mean of Hb, MCV, and WBC count were lower in malignant tumors that our results were the same. Further research is needed to confirm our results so that criteria to differentiate benign and malignant tumors and prognostic factors can be completed. Keywords Malignant ovarian neoplasm Á Platelet indices Á Benign ovarian neoplasm Introduction Ovarian cancer is the most common cause of death among gynecologic malignancies, and pre-surgical differentiation between benign and malignant ovarian mass is still of interest, and there are different criteria in this regard as many of them are important in differential diagnosis before surgery [1]. The interaction between cancer and platelets is not well known up to now. Thrombocytosis is reported in 10 to 50% of malignancies. The cause of this reactive thrombocytosis is secondary to the presence of tumors. Some studies also mention the role of platelet modulators in tumor growth and accelerating angiogenesis and metastasis. But the effect of platelets on the growth of the tumor is still not clear [2]. In recent studies, leukocyte and erythrocyte changes in ovarian cancer patients have also been reported. The low number of lymphocytes in cancer patients indicates immunodeficiency of them, and the lower & Setare Nassiri Setare_n99@yahoo.com Shahrzad Sheikh Hassani dr_sh1356@yahoo.com Fateme Saboctacin drhaghiri@yahoo.com Mitra Modarres Gilani Mitra.modarresgilani@gmail.com Setare Akhavan setare_akh@yahoo.com 1 Gynecology Oncology Department of Emam Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran 123 Indian J Gynecol Oncolog (2017) 15 (Suppl 1):S49–S53 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40944-017-0149-6