Clinical assessment of pancreatic cancer cases with thromboembolism complications.

Abstract

495 Background: Cancer patients, particularly those with pancreatic cancer (PC), have an increased risk of developing thromboembolism, such as venous thromboembolism (VTE) and cerebral infarction (CI). Moreover, thromboembolisms in cancer are associated with poor prognosis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics, clinical courses, and prognosis of PC patients (pts) with VTE and/or CI. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of PC pts who were radiologically diagnosed with VTE and/or CI at our institution. We investigated the patients’ clinical information and evaluated overall survival (OS), which was defined as the date from diagnosis of VTE and/or CI to the date of death by any causes or censored. Results: Between January 2012 and December 2015, 100 pts were diagnosed with PC. A total of 14 pts developed VTE and/or CI at our institution. All 14 pts had unresectable advanced or metastatic PC, 10 pts (71%) were men, and the median age at the time of VTE and/or CI diagnosis was 68.8 (range, 29–84) years. Complications of VTE and CI developed in 6 (43%) and 8 pts (57%), respectively (3 pts with development of both VTE and CI were included as CI). The median OS in pts who developed VTE and CI was 7.59 and 1.48 months (p = 0.007), respectively. After the development of VTE and/or CI, 5 pts (36%) (3 with VTE and 2 with CI) received chemotherapy (CTx), while the remaining 9 pts (64%) received best supportive care (BSC). In pts with VTE, the median OS of those who received CTx and BSC was 7.59 and 3.15 months (p = 0.221), respectively. Meanwhile, in pts with CI, the median OS of those who received CTx and BSC was 3.84 and 1.48 months (p = 0.113), respectively. Conclusions: The prognosis of PC pts who developed CI as complications was significantly poorer than those who developed VTE. However, in both cases, treatment with CTx prolonged the OS of these patients.