The higher risk of cancer among patients less than 60 years of age and among patients with recurrent episodes of deep venous thrombosis or pulmonary embolism accords with the results of a recent study.These findings indicate that preclinical cancer has a larger role in thromboembolism among middle-aged patients than among older ones. The large population we studied was well defined, and the follow-up almost complete, because the design relied on computerized registries with almost complete nationwide coverage. This gave us considerably more statistical precision than previous studies.5-7It is well known that discharge diagnoses vary in quality, and some registered patients with deep venous thrombosis in their discharge records would not fulfill the criteria for thromboembolism. This would cause bias toward the null hypothesis. Our use of routine data might actually be a strength, since the study itself did not affect the diagnostic process and thus did not introduce bias due to surveillance in follow-up studies.
The benefit of searching for cancer in a patient with a primary thrombotic event is difficult to assess. In our cohort, most of the cancers that were found during the first year of follow-up were probably present at the time of the diagnosis of thromboembolism. The detection of some of these cancers would have required an extensive workup, and it is unclear whether early diagnosis would have changed the outcome. For several of the types of cancer, such as pancreas and liver cancers, early detection does not change the prognosis. Other cancers might be detected by simple methods. In the group we studied, 26,600 persons would have had to be screened for the 304 excess cancers to be found during the first year of follow-up, and at least 40 percent of these patients would probably have had metastases at the time of diagnosis, as compared with 29 percent in a sex- and age-matched population of patients with the same types of cancer. Therefore, extensive cancer screening of patients with thromboembolism does not seem to be cost effective. Extensive screening may cause several other problems, including discomfort and psychological stress. Our results strongly support the pragmatic recommendation to use only simple methods of screening and to look for cancer in patients with signs and symptoms of cancer.
The higher risk of cancer among patients less than 60 years of age and among patients with recurrent episodes of deep venous thrombosis or pulmonary embolism accords with the results of a recent study.These findings indicate that preclinical cancer has a larger role in thromboembolism among middle-aged patients than among older ones. The large population we studied was well defined, and the follow-up almost complete, because the design relied on computerized registries with almost complete nationwide coverage. This gave us considerably more statistical precision than previous studies.5-7It is well known that discharge diagnoses vary in quality, and some registered patients with deep venous thrombosis in their discharge records would not fulfill the criteria for thromboembolism. This would cause bias toward the null hypothesis. Our use of routine data might actually be a strength, since the study itself did not affect the diagnostic process and thus did not introduce bias due to surveillance in follow-up studies.
The benefit of searching for cancer in a patient with a primary thrombotic event is difficult to assess. In our cohort, most of the cancers that were found during the first year of follow-up were probably present at the time of the diagnosis of thromboembolism. The detection of some of these cancers would have required an extensive workup, and it is unclear whether early diagnosis would have changed the outcome. For several of the types of cancer, such as pancreas and liver cancers, early detection does not change the prognosis. Other cancers might be detected by simple methods. In the group we studied, 26,600 persons would have had to be screened for the 304 excess cancers to be found during the first year of follow-up, and at least 40 percent of these patients would probably have had metastases at the time of diagnosis, as compared with 29 percent in a sex- and age-matched population of patients with the same types of cancer. Therefore, extensive cancer screening of patients with thromboembolism does not seem to be cost effective. Extensive screening may cause several other problems, including discomfort and psychological stress. Our results strongly support the pragmatic recommendation to use only simple methods of screening and to look for cancer in patients with signs and symptoms of cancer.
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