Deep venous thrombosis as a marker of tumor recurrence

There is a bidirectional association between neoplasia and venous thromboembolism (VTE). However, whether this association has an impact in tumor recurrence is unknown. The aim of the study is to assess the incidence of cancer recurrence after diagnosis of VTE and determine if VTE could be a marker for cancer recurrence. This was a retrospective cohort observational study. The observations were made in June 2008. The study included 132 patients diagnosed with a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) between January 2002 and December 2005 and had a cancer without activity in the last 12 months in their medical history. The cancer recurrence was assessed. The sample was divided according to the presence or absence of cancer recurrence and study variables were compared. The incidence of cancer recurrence after diagnosis with DVT was 50,7%. This recurrence occurred in the first 4 months in 55,2% and more frequent and earlier in patients with breast tumors (p:00014), with carcinoma (p:0,02), in patients under palliative chemotherapy and in patients with previous presence of metastasis. (p:0,00). In 50,7% of patients without neoplasic activity in the last year, DVT was the first sign of tumor recurrence. These patients should be referred to an oncology department as soon as possible in order to diagnose the tumor recurrence.