Pattern of Venous Thrombosis in Cancer Patients: Frequency and Survival Effect; Single Center Experience

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) represents one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality in cancer patients. This investigation was undertaken to investigate the natural history of VTE in the oncology center in a tertiary care hospital. We did a retrospective study on cancer patients who presented to King Abdullah Medical city in Holly capital; a tertiary care hospital; from May 2011 to June 2013. Follow up period was calculated from time of VTE diagnosis till the last clinical visit or till patient death. Among 1,678 cancer patients, 132 (7.87 %) were diagnosed with VTE. The median patient age was 53.5 years, with female to male ratio 1.3/1. Thirty one patients (23.5 %) were diagnosed with VTE and cancer simultaneously, seventy four patients (56.1 %) were on chemotherapy and twenty eight patients (21.2 %) were on best supportive care.VTE were symptomatic in 110 patients (83.3 %) and asymptomatic in 22 patients (16.7 %). Lower limbs were the commonest site (42.4 %) with the highest incidence in patients with advanced stages (93 %). Forty nine (37 %) patients were receiving LMWH as prophylaxis. Median survival in months for patients with VTE prophylaxis versus without prophylactic, and asymptomatic versus symptomatic were (12.6 vs 6.3; p 0.12 and 9.8 vs 12.4; p 0.885, respectively). There is underutilization of thromboprophylaxis in our region, which needs more effort to reduce VTE burden. Also we need large prospective studies to clarify the impact of VTE symptoms and presentation on patient’s survival.