A syndrome resembling idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura in 10 patients with diverse forms of cancer.

Ten patients with diverse forms of carcinoma (six patients) and of cancer in the lymphoid system (four patients) presented with or subsequently had a syndrome resembling idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). These patients were older than patients who had ITP alone. ITP was coincident with a diagnosis of cancer (three patients), preceded a diagnosis of cancer (three patients) or followed a diagnosis of cancer (four patients). No patients responded to steroid therapy permanently. Therefore, the course of our patients was fairly typical of ITP in the adult. Since we found nine patients with cancer in a survey of 52 consecutive patients with ITP in the adult population admitted to one hospital, this diagnosis may be missed with some frequency; the development of thrombocytopenia being attributed to other causes.