Vaskulárna medicína 1/2010

Venous thromboembolism in patients with cancer

In patients with cancer, the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) and its recurrence are manyfold higher than in the other patients. The pathophysiology, risk factors, VTE prevention and treatment in oncological patients are discussed in the review. The ASCO (American Society Clinical Oncology) recommendations published in 2007 are compared with the ACCP (American College of Chest Physicians)recommendations from 2008. The authors also discussed the advantages of low molecular weight heparins (LMWH) in the VTE prevention and treatment, as well as the LMWH effects on overall survival of cancer patients. The fact, that VTE might be the first sign of until unknown oncological disease, is emphasized in the end of the review. It is always important to keep this knowledge in the mind, and every patient with VTE should undergo the oncological screening.

Keywords: venous thromboembolism, low molecular weight heparins, guidelines, thromboprophylaxis, malignancy