Dynamic platelet function is markedly different in patients with cancer compared to healthy donors.

Despite a fivefold increased risk of thromboembolism in patients with cancer, the mechanism of arterial thromboembolism is poorly understood. To address this, we investigated platelet function in cancer patients and healthy controls using an assay that mimics the arterial vasculature. Blood samples from cancer patients ( = 36) and healthy controls ( = 22) were perfused through custom-made parallel-plate flow chambers coated with von Willebrand factor (VWF) under arterial shear (1,500 s).