Thirty-day mortality rate in women with cancer and venous thromboembolism. Findings from the Registro Informatizado de la Enfermedad Trombo Embólica Registry

Abstract

Cancer patients with venous thromboembolism (VTE) are at increased risk of mortality. Estimating the risks for specific causes of death may help to weigh the risks and benefits of different therapeutic strategies in an individual patient. In the Registro Informatizado de la Enfermedad Trombo Embólica Registry of 15 520 consecutive patients with VTE, cancer was present in 20% and was associated with a two-fold increase in the risk of fatal pulmonary embolism. In a subsequent study including 2474 women with cancer, 329 (13%) died during the first month. The incidence of fatal pulmonary embolism (n = 71) exceeded that of fatal bleeding (n = 22), except in women with cancer of the bladder or vulva. Then, we compared the mortality rate according to initial presentation in 3978 women with cancer and VTE, of whom 438 (11%) died during the first month. The risk of fatal bleeding was twice as high as the risk of fatal pulmonary embolism (12 vs. 5 deaths) in those with deep-vein thrombosis alone. The higher risk of dying from bleeding than from pulmonary embolism in some women with cancer and VTE suggests that a less aggressive anticoagulant strategy might reduce fatal bleeding more than it would increase fatal pulmonary embolism during this period.