[Screening for occult cancer in patients with unprovoked venous thromboembolism].

Venous thromboembolism (VTE), which includes deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, is the third most common cardiovascular disease. Unprovoked VTE can be the initial presentation of occult cancer. Up to 10% of patients with unprovoked VTE are diagnosed with cancer within a year. Cancer screening in patients with unprovoked VTE is beneficial for early cancer diagnosis and treatment, which may theoretically reduce cancer-related morbidity and mortality. The epidemiology of occult cancer in patients with unprovoked VTE, screening strategies originated from evidence-based medicine, risk factors of cancer and different models of risk assessment are reviewed in this article.

[Clinical characteristics and prognosis of overweight and obese patients with pulmonary thromboembolism].

Objective: To investigate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of overweight and obese patients with pulmonary embolism. Methods: This was a retrospective study of patients with pulmonary thromboembolism(PTE) in Beijing Hospital between 2009 and 2017. Data were analyzed and compared based on body mass index (BMI), and patients were classified into normal weight, overweight, and obese. Results: Among 372 patients with PTE, 159 were normal, 143 were overweight and 70 were obese. The mean age was (67.8±13.4) years, and 159(47.0%) were males. There was no significant difference in age, sex, smoking ratio, and underlying disease between the 3 groups (all P>0.05). Chest pain was less frequent in the obese group than the overweight group (P<0.05), and swollen of lower limbs was more prevalent in the obese group than the first 2 groups (all P<0.05). The levels of hemoglobin and hematocrit in the obese group were significantly higher than those in the normal group(P<0.05), while the serum uric acid levels were significantly higher than that in the normal group (P<0.05). Anticoagulation was more frequent in the overweight than the normal group(P<0.05) and Warfarin use was more frequent in the overweight and the obese than the normal group(both P<0.05). The mortality rate was higher in the normal group than those in the overweight and the obese groups (both P<0.01). Multiple logistic regression analysis after adjusting for age and sex showed that malignancy (OR=3.716, 95%CI: 1.733-7.972, P=0.001) and high risk PTE (OR=13.815, 95%CI: 4.093-46.624, P<0.001) were predictors of mortality, whereas anticoagulation (OR=0.155, 95%CI: 0.056-0.428, P<0.001), BMI≥24 (OR=0.142, 95%CI: 0.045-0.446, P=0.001) and BMI≥28 (OR=0.272, 95%CI: 0.085-0.872, P=0.029) were the predictors of survival. Conclusions: Proportion of hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease and hyperlipidemia were not significantly different in patients with overweight and obesity compared to patients with normal weight. Obese patients had higher levels of uric acid and hemoglobin than normal weight. Overweight and obese patients had a better survival.

[Clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with lung cancer, gastrointestinal cancer and urologic cancer with venous thromboembolism].

Objective: To compare the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with lung cancer, gastrointestinal (GI) cancer and urologic cancer with venous thromboembolism (VTE). Methods: From January 2003 to January 2013, 192 lung cancer, GI cancer and urologic cancer patients with VTE were retrospectively evaluated for the clinical characteristics and outcomes. Results: Among 192 patients, 82 cases of lung cancer, 78 cases of GI cancer, 32 cases of urologic cancer were involved. The Eastern Cooperative oncology Group Performance Status score of GI cancer group was significantly higher than those of the lung cancer and urologic cancer groups[(2.4±1.1) vs (2.0±1.4), (1.8±1.0), both P<0.05]. The proportion of smoking patients in lung cancer group was significantly higher than that in GI cancer and urologic cancer groups (79.3% vs 30.8%, 53.1%, both P<0.05), while the proportion of operation was significantly lower than that in the latter two groups (35.4% vs 53.8%, 68.8%, both P<0.05). Pathological types of cancer were mostly adenocarcinoma, and the proportion of adenocarcinoma in lung cancer and GI cancer groups was significantly higher than that in urologic cancer group (76.9%, 73.8% vs 37.9%, both P<0.001). The proportion of moderately and/or poorly differentiated histodifferentiation in the first two groups was significantly higher than that of urologic cancer group (90.0%, 95.7% vs 40.0%, both P<0.001). The proportion of patients with TNM stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ in lung cancer group was significantly higher than that of the urological cancer group (87.0% vs 64.3%, P<0.05). The incidence of VTE in lung cancer group was significantly higher than those of GI cancer and urologic cancer groups within 6 months after tumor diagnosis, chemotherapy and operation (79.3% vs 60.3%, 46.9%; 76.5% vs 48.6%, 36.4%; 92.3% vs 57.9%, 59.1%; all P<0.05). The case fatality rate within one year in lung cancer and GI cancer groups was significantly higher than that in urologic cancer group (51.2%, 52.6% vs 18.8%, both P<0.01). The median survival time of the lung cancer and GI cancer groups was significantly shorter than that of the urological cancer group (P=0.001, 0.010, respectively). Conclusions: Adenocarcinoma, advanced cancer, and poor histodifferentiation are risk factors of VTE in cancer patients. Most events of VTE occur within 6 months after a diagnosis of cancer. The prognosis of lung cancer and GI cancer complicated with VTE is worse than that of urologic cancer with VTE.