Vascular Imaging in the Asymptomatic High-risk Cancer Population: A Role for Thrombosis Screening and Therapy...

We retrospectively examined the venous thromboembolism (VTE) events diagnosed in the Prophylaxis of High-Risk Ambulatory Cancer Patients Study (PHACS), a multi-center randomized trial, to assess the value of screening vascular imaging for the diagnosis of incidental VTE in high-risk cancer patients.

A total of 117 asymptomatic cancer patients with a Khorana score ≥3 starting a new systemic chemotherapy regimen were enrolled in a prospective randomized control trial. Patients underwent baseline venous ultrasound (US) of the lower extremities (LEs) and screening contrast-enhanced chest computed tomography (CT). Those without preexisting VTE were then randomized into observation or dalteparin prophylaxis groups and were screened with serial US every 4 weeks for up to 12 weeks and imaged with contrast-enhanced chest CT at 12 weeks. Any additional imaging performed during the study period was also evaluated for VTE.

Baseline prevalence of incidental VTE was 9% (n = 10) with 58% percent of VTEs diagnosed by screening US. Incidence of VTE in the randomized phase of the trial was 16% (n = 16) with 21% (n = 10) of patients in the control arm and 12% (n = 6) of patients in the dalteparin arm developing VTE, a non-significant 9% absolute risk reduction (HR = 0.69, 95% CI 0.23-1.89). Sixty-nine percent of these patients were asymptomatic with 31% of patients diagnosed by screening US.

Adding screening US to routine oncologic surveillance CT in high-risk ambulatory cancer patients with a Khorana score ≥3 can lead to increased VTE detection, with potential for decreased morbidity, mortality, and health care spending.