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British Journal of Cancer (2005) 93, 838-841.
doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6602757 Published online 30 August 2005
The risk of a second cancer after hospitalisation for venous thromboembolism
H T Sørensen1, L Pedersen1, L Mellemkjær2, S P Johnsen1, M V Skriver1, J H Olsen2 and J A Baron3
1The Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Ole Worms Allé 150, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
2The Danish Cancer Society, Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, Strandboulevarden 49, 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
3Departments of Medicine and Community and Family Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH 03755-3861, USA
Correspondence to: Professor HT Sørensen, E-mail: hts@dce.au.dk
Received 3 May 2005; revised 27 June 2005; accepted 1 August 2005; published online 30 August 2005
Although venous thromboembolism (VTE) is common in patients with cancer, it is not known if it is associated with risk of a second malignancy. Using the Danish Cancer Registry and National Registry of Patients, we studied a population-based cohort of 6285 patients with cancer who had an episode of VTE. The risk of a second cancer was compared with that among 30 713 cancer patients without VTE, matched for age, sex, cancer site and year of diagnosis. Overall, the relative risk for a second cancer diagnosis was 1.3 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1-1.4). However, the excess risk varied with the time from the initial cancer diagnosis to the thrombotic event. If the thrombotic episode occurred within the first year, the relative risk for a second cancer was 1.0 (95% CI 0.9-1.3), but if the VTE occurred more than 1 year after the initial cancer, the overall relative risk for a second cancer was 1.4 (95% CI 1.2-1.7), with strong associations for cancers of the digestive organs, ovary and prostate. The association between VTE and subsequent incident cancer extends to patients who already have had a cancer diagnosis.
Keywords: venous thromboembolism; epidemiology; prognosis; risk
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