Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Risk of venous thromboembolism in patients with cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Horsted, Freesia; West, Joe; Grainge, Matthew J.

Risk of venous thromboembolism in patients with cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis Thumbnail


Authors

Freesia Horsted

JOE WEST JOE.WEST@NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK
Professor of Epidemiology

Matthew J. Grainge



Abstract

Background: People with cancer are known to be at increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE), and this risk is believed to vary according to cancer type, stage of disease, and treatment modality. Our purpose was to summarise the existing literature to determine precisely and accurately the absolute risk of VTE in cancer patients, stratified by malignancy site and background risk of VTE.
Methods and Findings: We searched the Medline and Embase databases from 1 January 1966 to 14 July 2011 to identify cohort studies comprising people diagnosed with one of eight specified cancer types or where participants were judged to be representative of all people with cancer. For each included study, the number of patients who developed clinically apparent VTE, and the total person-years of follow-up were extracted. Incidence rates of VTE were pooled across studies using the generic inverse variance method. In total, data from 38 individual studies were included. Among average-risk patients, the overall risk of VTE was estimated to be 13 per 1,000 person-years (95% CI, 7 to 23), with the highest risk among patients with cancers of the pancreas, brain, and lung. Among patients judged to be at high risk (due to metastatic disease or receipt of high-risk treatments), the risk of VTE was 68 per 1,000 person-years (95% CI, 48 to 96), with the highest risk among patients with brain cancer (200 per 1,000 person-years; 95% CI, 162 to 247). Our results need to be considered in light of high levels of heterogeneity, which exist due to differences in study population, outcome definition, and average duration of follow-up between studies.
Conclusions: VTE occurs in greater than 1% of cancer patients each year, but this varies widely by cancer type and time since diagnosis. The absolute VTE risks obtained from this review can aid in clinical decision-making about which people with cancer should receive anticoagulant prophylaxis and at what times.

Citation

Horsted, F., West, J., & Grainge, M. J. (2012). Risk of venous thromboembolism in patients with cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Medicine, 9(7), Article e1001275. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001275

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Jul 31, 2012
Deposit Date Apr 7, 2014
Publicly Available Date Apr 7, 2014
Journal PLoS Medicine
Print ISSN 1549-1277
Electronic ISSN 1549-1676
Publisher Public Library of Science
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 9
Issue 7
Article Number e1001275
DOI https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001275
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/710575
Publisher URL http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1001275

Files





You might also like



Downloadable Citations