Background: The mean value of Mean Platelet Volume (MPV) is a valid parameter in the diagnosis and management of various types of cancer for many years. An increase in MPV may become a significant biomarker of head and neck malignancies, also a warning of thrombosis risk in malignancy, while decreased MPV is related to the administration of chemotherapy. Aim: This study aimed to determine MPV values in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) pre and post chemotherapy based on types of chemotherapy and histopathology. Materials and Methods: Analytic study with a retrospective cohort design was carried out at H. Adam Malik General Hospital, Medan. Data were collected using secondary data on medical records of patients with pre and post chemotherapy nasopharyngeal carcinoma from January 2015-December 2017 in the form of demographic, clinical, histopathological and chemotherapy data. Data were processed descriptively and analyzed by ANOVA test. Results: MPV levels in NPC with histopathology of Keratinizing Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC) were fluctuating, while for Non-Keratinizing SCC and Undifferentiated Ca. MPV levels exhibited a downward trend. Regardless of the type of histopathology, decreased MPV levels occurred significantly in concomitant, neoadjuvant and full-dose chemotherapies, with the greatest decrease in concomitant. Conclusion: MPV value might be favorable to be used as a prediction parameter for chemotherapy response and therapeutic efficacy of chemotherapy to be administered.
