Upper Extremity Deep Vein Thrombosis in Acute Leukemia and Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma: Analysis of the California Cancer Registry

Background Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a known complication in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). However, the cumulative incidence, risk factors, rate of subsequent VTE and impact on mortality of upper extremity deep vein thrombosis (UE DVT) in these diseases is not well-described. Methods Using the California Cancer Registry, we identified patients with a first primary diagnosis of AML, ALL and NHL from 2005-2014 and linked these patients with the statewide hospitalization and emergency department databases to identify an incident UE DVT event using specific ICD-9-CM codes. Patients with VTE prior to or at the time of malignancy diagnosis or who were not treated with chemotherapy were excluded. We determined the cumulative incidence of first UE DVT, adjusted for the competing risk of death. We also examined the cumulative incidence of subsequent VTE (UE DVT, lower extremity deep vein thrombosis (LE DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE)) and major bleeding after incident UE DVT. Using Cox proportional hazards regression models, stratified by tumor type and adjusted for other prognostic covariates including sex, race/ethnicity, age at diagnosis, neighborhood, sociodemographic status and central venous catheter (CVC) placement, we identified risk factors for development of incident UE DVT, the effect of incident UE DVT on PE and/or LE DVT development, and impact of incident UE DVT on cancer specific survival. The association of CVC placement with incident UE DVT was not assessed in acute leukemia patients, as all who undergo treatment were assumed to have a CVC. Results are presented as adjusted hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results Among 37,282 patients included in this analysis, 6,213 had AML, 3,730 had ALL and 27,339 had NHL. The 3- and 12-month cumulative incidence of UE DVT was 2.6% and 3.6% for AML, 2.1% and 3% for ALL and 1.0% and 1.6% for NHL respectively (Figure 1A). Most (56-64%) incident UE DVT events occurred within the first 3 months of malignancy diagnosis. African Americans (HR 1.66; CI 1.22-2.28) and Hispanics (HR 1.35; CI 1.10-1.66) with NHL had an increased risk of incident UE DVT compared to non-Hispanics Whites. NHL patients with a CVC had over a 2-fold increased risk of incident UE DVT (HR 2.05; CI 1.68-2.51) compared to those without a CVC. UE DVT was a risk factor for development of PE or LE DVT in ALL (HR 2.53; CI 1.29-4.95) and NHL (HR 1.