An epidemiologic study comparing cancer- and noncancer-associated venous thromboembolism in a racially diverse Southeastern United States county.

Background: Cancer-associated venous thromboembolism (CA-VTE) represents a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with cancer. Despite poor outcomes, there is an ongoing knowledge gap in epidemiologic data related to this association.

Objectives: To compare venous thromboembolism (VTE) characteristics, risk factors, and outcomes between patients with and without active cancer in a racially diverse population.

Methods: Our surveillance project occurred at the 3 hospitals in Durham County, North Carolina, from April 2012 through March 2014. Electronic and manual methods were used to identify unique Durham County residents with VTE.

Results: We identified 987 patients with VTE during the surveillance period. Of these, 189 patients had active cancer at the time of their VTE event. Patients with CA-VTE were older (median age: 69 years vs 60 years,  < .0001) and had a lower body mass index (median body mass index: 26.0 kg/m vs 28.4 kg/m,  = .0001) than noncancer patients. The most common cancers in our cohort were gastrointestinal, breast, genitourinary, and lung. The proportion of VTE cases with pulmonary embolism (PE) was greater in the cancer cohort compared with that in the noncancer cohort (58.2% vs 44.0%,  = .0004). Overall survival was lower in the CA-VTE group than in patients without cancer ( < .0001). Black patients with CA-VTE had lower proportion of PE (52.3% vs 67.1%,  = .05) but had decreased survival ( < .0003) in comparison with White patients.

Conclusion: Future studies may be needed to continue to evaluate local and national VTE data to improve VTE prevention strategies and CA-VTE outcomes.