Venous thromboembolism in cancer patients - magnitude of problem, approach, and management

Cancer is hypercoagulable state. Patients with cancer are at high risk to develop venous thromboembolism (VTE). Relative risk of developing VTE is approximately seven times higher in patients with active cancer. The incidence of occult malignancy is 7%-12% in patients with idiopathic deep vein thrombosis (DVT). However, little research has been focused on cancer with thromboembolism. Lowmolecularweight heparin most frequently used pharmacologic agents as recommended by established guidelines. The aim was to evaluate the magnitude of problem in cancer patients and treatment option as per established guidelines. EMBASE, MEDLINE, and PubMed search of the literature were done to evaluate the association of DVT with various malignancy, magnitude of problem, approach, and various guidelines for the management of DVT. References of all publication were also searched to enrich this article for recent update. Thromboprophylaxis in cancer patient is gray zone area. This need lot of investigational work to find highrisk patients who would benefit from primary thromboprophylaxis.