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Thromb Haemost 2010; 103(02): 338-343
DOI: 10.1160/TH09-06-0397
Blood Coagulation, Fibrinolysis and Cellular Haemostasis
Schattauer GmbH

Frequency, demographics and risk (according to tumour type or site) of cancer-associated thrombosis among patients seen at outpatient DVT clinics

Shankaranarayana Paneesha
1   Consultant, Department of Haematology, Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, UK
,
Aidan McManus
2   Director, MMRx Consulting, Cheam, Surrey, UK
,
Roopen Arya
3   Consultant, Department of Haematology, King‘s College Hospital, London, UK
,
Nicholas Scriven
4   Consultant, Medical Assessment Unit, The Calderdale Royal Hospital, Halifax, UK
,
Timothy Farren
5   Clinical Scientist, Department of Haematology, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, UK
,
Tim Nokes
6   Consultant, Department of Haematology, Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, UK
,
Sue Bacon
7   Thrombosis Nurse Specialist, Scarborough Hospital, Scarborough, UK
,
Anthea Nieland
8   Thrombosis Nurse Specialist, Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust, Northampton, UK
,
Derek Cooper
9   Statistical Consultant, London, UK
,
Harry Smith   *
10   Harry Smith, Medical Advisor, Sanofi Aventis UK
,
Denise O‘Shaughnessy
11   Special Advisor, Blood Policy Unit, Department of Health, London, UK
,
Peter Rose
12   Consultant, Department of Haematology, Warwick Hospital, Warwick, UK
,
for the VERITY Investigators › Author Affiliations Financial support: The VERITY registry is funded by sanofi-aventis.
Further Information

Publication History

Received: 14 June 2009

Accepted after major revision: 26 October 2009

Publication Date:
22 November 2017 (online)

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Summary

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a clinically important complication for both hospitalised and ambulatory cancer patients. In the current study, the frequency, demographics and risk (according to tumour site) of VTE were examined among patients seen at outpatient DVT (deep-vein thrombosis) clinics. Of 10,015 VTE cases, 1,361 were diagnosed with cancer, for an overall rate of cancer-associated VTE of 13.6% in this outpatient population. Patients with cancer-associated VTE were significantly older than cancer-free VTE cases (66.4 ± 12.7 vs. 58.8 ± 18.5 years; p<0.0001). The frequency of cancer-associated VTE peaked earlier among females than males, occurring in the sixth (137/639, 21.4% vs. 98/851, 11.3%; p<0.001) and seventh decades (213/980, 21.7% vs. 197/1096, 18%; p=0.036). VTE was described most frequently in common cancers – breast, prostate, colorectal and lung (56.1% of cases). The risk of VTE varied widely across 17 cancer types. Calculating odds ratios (OR) to assess the effect size of cancer type on VTE risk, the highest odds were observed for patients with pancreatic cancer (OR 9.65, 95% confidence interval [CI] (5.51–16.91). Tumours of the head and neck had higher odds than previously reported (OR 8.24, 95% CI 5.06–13.42). Reduced risk estimates were observed for skin cancers (melanoma and non-melanoma: OR 0.89, 95% CI 0.42–1.87; OR 0.74, 95% CI, 0.32–1.69, respectively). We conclude that outpatients have a similar rate of cancer-associated VTE as VTE patient populations previously reported, that cancer-associated VTE occurs in an older age group and earlier in females and that outpatients exhibit distinct tumour site-specific risk from that described among hospitalised cancer patients.

Keywords

Clinical studies - cancer - venous thrombosis

* Current position: Medical Manager, Pfizer, Walton-On-The-Hill, Surrey, UK.


 

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