Diagnosis and Treatment Characteristics of Lung Cancer Patients with Venous Thromboembolism

Objective To explore the impact of venous thromboembolism (VTE) on the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer patients.

Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of lung cancer patients with VTE treated in Peking University Cancer Hospital. The incidence of VTE was calculated and the relation between VTE and lung cancer was analyzed.

Results Among 1766 patients with lung cancer, VTE occurred in 115(6.5%) patients. Among 115 VTE cases, there were 78(67.8%) males patients; 82(71.3%) cases were deep venous thrombosis, 21(18.3%) cases were pulmonary embolism, 12(10.4%) cases were deep venous thrombosis with pulmonary embolism; 74(64.3%) cases were symptomatic VTE; 102(88.7%) patients received antithrombotic therapy. Among the patients who received antithrombotic therapy, 97(95.1%) cases chose drug therapy. In drug treatment, 65(67.0%) cases used adequate/standard dose. Among 115 VTE cases, 52(45.2%) patients had improvement or disappearance of thrombus, 32(27.8%) patients had no improvement, and 31(27.0%) patients with unknown results; 11(9.6%) patients had adverse reactions such as bleeding during antithrombotic therapy; 30(26.1%) patients changed antineoplastic treatment plan due to VTE.

Conclusion VTE is a common complication of lung cancer patients. Antithrombotic therapy for lung cancer patients with VTE is complex, the treatment effect is not ideal and the risk of adverse reactions such as bleeding is high. VTE has a great impact on the implementation of anti-cancer treatment.