Venous thromboembolism and all-cause mortality in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy

9521 Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common complication of cancer occurring with increasing frequency. A recent meta-analysis of anticoagulation as a form of cancer treatment reported a significant reduction in overall mortality (Kuderer et al. Cancer 2007). The aim of this analysis is to evaluate the impact of VTE on early mortality in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Methods: A prospective study of 4,458 adult cancer patients with solid tumors or malignant lymphoma initiating a new chemotherapy regimen was conducted between 2002 and 2006 at 115 randomly selected U.S. practice sites. Demographic, clinical and treatment-related measures were captured at baseline and during the first 4 cycles of chemotherapy including rates of documented VTE and deaths from all causes. Overall survival (OS) was estimated by the method of Kaplan-Meier and adjusted hazard ratios (HR) for OS were based on a Cox regression model incorporating VTE as a time-dependent covariate. Results: Average patient age...