Key result
Recent cancer linked to ~5.5-fold higher VTE odds in women, outpacing risk in men.
Why the study?
Cancer is a recognized risk factor for venous thromboembolism, but the sex-specific risk of preceding cancer in patients with a first-time VTE needed to be defined.
What is the sex-specific risk of preceding cancer in patients with a first-time VTE compared to matched controls?
Case-Control (n=1,483,251)
Yes
What is the sex-specific risk of preceding cancer in patients with a first-time VTE compared to matched controls?
Odds Ratio: 5.5 (95% CI 5.4–5.7)
Absolute Event Rate: 14.2% vs 2.3%
VTE is strongly associated with preceding cancer, particularly pancreatic and brain cancers, with a higher overall risk observed in women compared to men.
May prompt sex-stratified cancer evaluation after first VTE; leaves open optimal strategies and underlying mechanisms.
Cancer is a risk factor for venous thromboembolism (VTE). We aimed to define sex-specific risk of preceding cancer in patients with a first-time VTE by conducting a nationwide Swedish registry-based study including 298 172 patients with VTE and 1 185 079 matched controls. This included 44 685 patients with a diagnosis of cancer at/or within 1 year before a VTE diagnosis. Female patients with VTE had a higher multivariable adjusted odds ratios of preceding cancer than male patients with VTE (5.5 [99% confidence interval 5.4-5.7] vs 3.9 [3.8-4.0]). The highest risk of cancer in patients with VTE were found for pancreatic cancer (women: 19.6 [15.8-24.4]; men: 17.2 [13.7-21.6]) and brain cancer (women: 17.4 [12.9-23.4]; men: 17.5 [13.8-22.2]). Weak associations were seen between VTE and bladder/urothelial cancer (women: 1.31 [1.12-1.53]; men: 1.34 [1.23-1.47]), prostate cancer (men: 2.17 [2.07-2.27]), malignant melanoma (women: 2.51 [2.07-3.05]; men: 2.67 [2.23-3.18]), and kidney cancer (women: 3.20 [2.49-4.11]; men: 3.33 [2.79-4.07]). In conclusion, associations with VTE were weak for bladder/urothelial cancer and kidney cancer, and strong for pancreatic, brain, and biliary cancers.
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Sandblad et al. (2023) conducted a case-control in Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) (n=1,483,251). Preceding cancer diagnosis vs. Matched controls without VTE was evaluated on Odds of preceding cancer diagnosis (within 1 year) in female VTE patients vs controls (OR 5.5, 95% CI 5.4-5.7). A recent diagnosis of cancer was strongly associated with first-time venous thromboembolism, with women having a higher adjusted odds ratio (OR 5.5) than men (OR 3.9) compared to matched controls.
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