Khorana extracted data from health insurance database of commercially insured patients in the United States between 2004 and 2009. 17,284 patients were evaluated for blood clot with age/sex-matched, noncancer control. The blood clot incidence was recorded during a 3-month to 12-month follow-up period after the initiation of chemotherapy. The study found blood clot occurred in 12.6% of the cancer cohort (n = 2170) over 12 months after the initiation of chemotherapy versus 1.4% of controls (n = 237; P < .0001). Another study by Seng indicated that patient taking Cisplatin is more prone to blood clot than other chemo.
What do we do? One common way to treat blood clot is to use blood thinner medications (Coumadin, heparin, etc). However, these are risky drugs that could cause blood to thin too much causing bleeding or stroke, even death. Just like in anything in medicine, there is no free lunch. Do discuss these risks and benefits with your doctor and health care providers. But there are things that you could do such as being active, losing weight (you heard this before from me…) to reduce the risk. Also call your doctor or go to Emergency Room if your leg suddenly swell up or you get short of breath.
Reference:
-Khorana AA,
et al. Incidence and predictors of
venous thromboembolism (VTE) among ambulatory
high-risk cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy in the United States. Cancer. 2012 Aug 14. doi: 10.1002/cncr.27772. [Epub ahead of
print]
-Seng S,
et al. Risk of
Venous Thromboembolism in Patients With Cancer Treated With Cisplatin: A
Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. J Clin Oncol.
2012 Nov 13. [Epub ahead of print]
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