THPO and cancer: This effect may potentially be leveraged as treatment for platelet disorders such as chronic idiopathic (immune) thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), where patients with abnormally low platelet levels are treated with thrombopoietin agonist to promote platelet production and strive to overwhelm the ongoing immune-mediated destruction of platelets [70] as well as for cancer patients that frequently experience thrombocytopenia resulting from cytotoxic chemotherapy treatment [8].