Clinical practice guidelines on cancer-associated thrombosis: a review on scope and methodology

Cancer-associated thrombosis is a well-recognized complication in patients with cancer. It imposes significant patient morbidity and anxiety, increases personal and societal financial burden, and is the second-leading cause of death in this population. There have been increasing research efforts to reduce the incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) and optimize its treatment but the quality of evidence is diverse. To assist clinicians in providing care based on best-available evidence, many international and national organizations have issued clinical practice guidelines. Among these, the most highly cited resources include those developed by the American College of Chest Physicians, the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the European Society of Medical Oncology. Nationally-based guidelines have also been published by various groups, including the Italian Association of Medical Oncology, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, the French National Federation of the League of Centers Against Cancer, and the British Committee for Standards in Haematology. This review will cover fundamental aspects of clinical practice guideline development and evaluation, summarize the scope and methodology of published guidelines on the management of cancer-associated thrombosis and assess the quality of selected, international guidelines using the validated Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE II) tool. Areas of consensus and uncertainties will be briefly highlighted.