In a recent study published in Gynecologic Oncology, over a quarter of individuals with endometrial cancer who received chemotherapy during initial treatment developed venous thromboembolism (VTE).
VTE is a serious medical condition that occurs when a blood clot forms in the veins, blocking normal blood flow. In addition to being one of the leading causes of death among individuals with cancer, VTE contributes to delayed treatment and an increased health care burden.
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The study included 292 adults with endometrial cancer who began treatment between January 2015 and December 2023. The median age of diagnosis was 66.1 years, and more than half of patients had an advanced disease stage at diagnosis.
Over the follow-up period, 26.7% of participants experienced VTE, with a median time from diagnosis to VTE onset of 7.1 months. Of the cases of VTE, 27% occurred in patients receiving chemotherapy after surgery, and 21% occurred among individuals receiving chemotherapy before surgery. In addition, 24% of VTE cases occurred during disease recurrence, with a median time from recurrence to VTE onset of 4.8 months.
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The study also found that 10% of patients experienced VTE before starting any treatment for endometrial cancer.
Endometrial cancer stage at diagnosis was linked with development of VTE. While 50% of those with VTE had stage IV cancer, only 20.4% of those without VTE had stage IV disease. Likewise, 16.7% of those with VTE had stage I endometrial cancer, while 38.4% of those without VTE had stage I disease.
At the time of VTE diagnosis, 28.2% of individuals had no evidence of cancer. Of these patients, half were in surveillance and the other half were undergoing chemotherapy.
Other clinical factors, including median body mass index, median age, tobacco use and tumor grade, showed no significant association with VTE diagnosis. Other treatments including immunotherapy, bevacizumab or external beam radiation therapy were not significantly associated with VTE.
“As endometrial cancer incidence rises, continued efforts to improve the accuracy of risk assessment tools and evaluate prophylactic anticoagulation in this high-risk population are warranted,” the authors concluded.
