Differences in Venous Thromboembolism Prevention and Outcome between Hospitalized Patients with Solid and Hematologic Malignancies

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common complication in cancer patients, leading to significant morbidity, mortality, and resources consumption. Around 20% of VTE events are related with an underlying malignancy. 1 The incidence of cancer-associated thrombosis is increasing in recent years due to different reasons such as longer survival and improved sensitivity of imaging techniques. Hospitalization is a recognized additional risk factor. 2 Current evidence-based clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) uniformly recommend pharmacological prophylaxis with low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) in hospitalized cancer patients, unless contraindicated. 3 4 5 However, the quality of the evidence that supports LMWH prophylaxis in cancer inpatients is not strong as recommendations are based on the results of clinical trials involving medical inpatients with different conditions (not only cancer). 6 CPG statement applies to both, solid and hematologic malignancies, given that a similar VTE-associated risk has been reported. In fact, in the validated Khorana's risk assessment model, lymphoma is regarded as a high-risk tumor-site category.