Long-Term Incidence of Venous Thromboembolism in Cancer: The Scandinavian Thrombosis and Cancer Cohort
Inger Lise Gade,
Sigrid K. Brækkan,
Inger Anne Næss,
John-Bjarne Hansen,
Suzanne C. Cannegieter,
Frits R. Rosendaal,
Kim Overvad,
Kristian Hindberg,
Jens Hammerstrøm,
Olga V. Gran,
Anne Tjønneland,
Marianne T. Severinsen,
Søren R. Kristensen
Affiliations
Inger Lise Gade
Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
Sigrid K. Brækkan
Department of Clinical Medicine, K.G Jebsen Thrombosis Research and Expertise Centre (TREC), University of Tromsø—The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
Inger Anne Næss
Department of Haematology, Trondheim University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway
John-Bjarne Hansen
Department of Clinical Medicine, K.G Jebsen Thrombosis Research and Expertise Centre (TREC), University of Tromsø—The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
Suzanne C. Cannegieter
Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
Frits R. Rosendaal
Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
Kim Overvad
Section for Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Kristian Hindberg
Department of Clinical Medicine, K.G Jebsen Thrombosis Research and Expertise Centre (TREC), University of Tromsø—The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
Jens Hammerstrøm
Department of Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
Olga V. Gran
Department of Clinical Medicine, K.G Jebsen Thrombosis Research and Expertise Centre (TREC), University of Tromsø—The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
Anne Tjønneland
Department of Diet, Genes and Environment, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark
Marianne T. Severinsen
Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
Søren R. Kristensen
Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
The risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients who survive the first years after a cancer diagnosis after the acute effects of disease and treatment in comparison to a similar background population has been sparsely investigated. The aim of the study was to investigate if incidence rates (IRs) of VTE differed in patients who were alive at least 2 years after a cancer diagnosis without VTE compared with cancer-free references in a population-based cohort study. The study entry was 2 years after a first cancer diagnosis. For each cancer-exposed subject, five reference subjects were identified within the cohort. The IRs were calculated as number of VTEs per 1,000 person years (×10−3 p-y) in total and in distinct cancer types and corresponding reference subjects. Incidence rate ratios (IRRs) were calculated by Poisson's regression. During a mean follow-up of 5.3 years, 110 VTEs occurred among the 7,288 cancer-exposed subjects and 321 VTEs occurred among the 36,297 identified reference subjects. The IR of VTE was higher for cancer-exposed subjects compared with reference subjects, IRs 3.7 × 10−3 p-y, 95% CI: 3.1 to 4.5 and 1.9 × 10−3 p-y, 95% CI: 1.7 to 2.2, respectively. IRs of VTE in most solid cancer types declined to almost the same level as in the reference subjects 2 years after cancer diagnosis, but remained higher in hematological cancers, IRR 4.0, 95% CI: 2.0 to 7.8.
