Predictors of venous thromboembolic complications in patients with pancreatic cancer.

Abstract

e16220 Background: Patients with pancreatic cancer are at high risk for venous thrombosis. Thrombotic episodes are most often recorded at the tumor diagnosis, surgical treatment and chemotherapy courses, or the disease recurrence. This complication postpones the beginning of treatment of the underlying disease and increases the mortality rate of cancer patients. The purpose of the study was to reveal the relationship between clinical characteristics and disorders of hemostasis indicators in patients with pancreatic cancer, and to identify predictors of venous thrombosis. Methods: 246 patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer were recruited in 2019. The most common histological tumor type was pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (91.9%). The most common tumor site was the head of the pancreas (68.3%). Almost half of the patients were initially diagnosed with stage IV cancer (TanyNanyM1). Surgery was performed in 28% of patients. VTEC incidence during the 12-month follow-up period was 15.4%. Results: Analysis of the clinical characteristics and initial hemostasis parameters in patients with and without venous thrombosis revealed that the risk of thrombosis was higher in patients with larger tumors and the presence of distant metastases. High levels of D-dimers at diagnosis doubled the risk of venous thrombosis during antitumor treatment. Conclusions: The most significant predictors of venous thrombosis in patients with pancreatic cancer are tumor size, stage IV, and initially high levels of D-dimer. The study of hemostasis indicators at the stage of diagnosis of pancreatic cancer (D-dimer) can help to identify patients with a high risk of VTEC, for whom anticoagulant prophylaxis with a low hemorrhagic risk is advisable.