Incidence and costs of thromboembolic events in cancer patients: A study on four major cancer localization.

Abstract

185 Background: Venous thromboembolic event (VTE) is a common complication for cancer patients, leading to hospitalizations that increase the burden of cancer management. Our study aimed to estimate the incidence and costs of hospitalizations for VTE, in French patients with breast cancer (BC), colon cancer (CC), lung cancer (LC) or prostate cancer (PC), four of the most frequent cancers in France. Methods: We used the French national hospital database (PMSI) to select new patients with BC, CC, LC or PC in 2010, who had at least one VTE-related hospitalization during the following two years. VTE-related stays and patients were identified using the disease-specific ICD-10 codes. Hospital costs were calculated over stays for which VTE was considered as primary/related diagnosis. Costs were estimated from the healthcare system perspective, using the French official tariffs. Results: Among 194,964 patients newly diagnosed in 2010 with BC, CC, LC or PC in 2010, 8,909 (4.6%) were hospitalized for a VTE or experienced VTE at hospital, representing, 12,880 hospital stays. During the two-year follow-up, 2,053 (23.0%) patients were re-hospitalized for a VTE recurrence, representing 3,969 stays (30.8% of admissions for VTE). For one patient with VTE who did not experience recurrence, the mean hospital cost over two years ranged from €3,302 to €3,674. This amount was dramatically increased for patients with recurrent VTE, as it ranged from €5,441 to €5,692 per patient. Hospitalizations for VTE associated with those 4 types of cancer only were responsible for an overall expenditure reaching €13.30 million over two years, including €1.82 million due to recurrent events. Conclusions: VTE-related cancer hospitalizations remain frequent and induce a notable cost. Prevention and management in respect to guidelines would be an efficient way to reduce the incidence of this complication and moderate its economic cost. [Table: see text]