title: Cancer-Associated Venous Thromboembolism.
abstract: Cancer patients are at high risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE) which is considered the second leading cause of death among this population. Both cancer and cancer treatment increase this risk. Since the risk of VTE is not the same in all cancer patients, it is important to understand what factors increase the risk of incident and the risk of recurrent VTE in this patient population. In an effort to combine multiple factors into a single risk stratification system, a scoring system for recurrent VTE risk in cancer patients has been developed and externally validated. While vitamin K antagonists (VKA) or the direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are first-line therapies for non-cancer-associated VTE treatment, low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) agents are the first-line anticoagulant for treatment of cancer-associated VTE. In this review, we discuss the epidemiology, pathophysiology, and risk stratification used in cancer-associated VTE. We also discuss the current therapies for cancer-associated VTE and the evidence supporting their use from the literature.
authors.affiliation: College of Pharmacy, Qatar University, PO Box 2713, Doha, Qatar.
authors.forename: Hazem
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Elewa
authors.affiliation: Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Colorado, 13001 E. 17th Pl., Aurora, CO, 80045, USA.
authors.forename: Riham
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Elrefai
authors.affiliation: Frankel Cardiovascular Center and Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Rd Building 14 Room G101, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2800, USA. gbarnes@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Geoffrey D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Barnes
keywords: Anticoagulants; Cancer; LMWH; Venous thromboembolism; Warfarin