Risk factors predictive of occult cancer detection in patients with unprovoked venous thromboembolism

Abstract

Risk factors predictive of occult cancer detection in patients with a first unprovoked symptomatic venous thromboembolism (VTE) are unknown. Cox proportional hazard models and multivariate analyses were performed to assess the effect of specific risk factors on occult cancer detection within 1 year of a diagnosis of unprovoked VTE in patients randomized in the Screening for Occult Malignancy in Patients with Idiopathic Venous Thromboembolism (SOME) trial. A total of 33 (3.9%; 95% CI, 2.8%-5.4%) out of the 854 included patients received a new diagnosis of cancer at 1-year follow-up. Age ‡ 60 years (hazard ratio [HR], 3.11; 95% CI, 1.41-6.89; P = .005), previous provoked VTE (HR, 3.20; 95% CI, 1.19-8.62; P = .022), and current smoker status (HR, 2.80; 95% CI, 1.24-6.33; P =.014) were associated with occult cancer detection. Age, prior provoked VTE, and smoking status may be important predictors of occult cancer detection in patients with first unprovoked VTE. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT00773448..