Long-Term Incidence of Venous Thromboembolism in Cancer: The Scandinavian Thrombosis and Cancer Cohort

• Main Authors: Inger Lise Gade, Sigrid K. Brækkan, Inger Anne Næss, John-Bjarne Hansen, Suzanne C. Cannegieter, Frits R. Rosendaal, Kim Overvad, Kristian Hindberg, Jens Hammerstrøm, Olga V. Gran, Anne Tjønneland, Marianne T. Severinsen, Søren R. Kristensen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Georg Thieme Verlag KG 2018-04-01
• Series: TH Open
• Subjects: cancer; epidemiology; prospective studies; time factors; venous thromboembolism
• Online Access: http://www.thieme-connect.de/DOI/DOI?10.1055/s-0038-1641678

The risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients who survive the first years after a cancer diagnosis after the acute effects of disease and treatment in comparison to a similar background population has been sparsely investigated. The aim of the study was to investigate if incidence rates (IRs) of VTE differed in patients who were alive at least 2 years after a cancer diagnosis without VTE compared with cancer-free references in a population-based cohort study. The study entry was 2 years after a first cancer diagnosis. For each cancer-exposed subject, five reference subjects were identified within the cohort. The IRs were calculated as number of VTEs per 1,000 person years (×10−3 p-y) in total and in distinct cancer types and corresponding reference subjects. Incidence rate ratios (IRRs) were calculated by Poisson's regression. During a mean follow-up of 5.3 years, 110 VTEs occurred among the 7,288 cancer-exposed subjects and 321 VTEs occurred among the 36,297 identified reference subjects. The IR of VTE was higher for cancer-exposed subjects compared with reference subjects, IRs 3.7 × 10−3 p-y, 95% CI: 3.1 to 4.5 and 1.9 × 10−3 p-y, 95% CI: 1.7 to 2.2, respectively. IRs of VTE in most solid cancer types declined to almost the same level as in the reference subjects 2 years after cancer diagnosis, but remained higher in hematological cancers, IRR 4.0, 95% CI: 2.0 to 7.8.