Incidence of Arterial and Venous Thromboembolism in Cancer Patients

Background and AimsThe reported incidence of arterial thromboembolism (ATE) and venous thromboembolism (VTE) after cancer varies. A meta-analysis was performed to define the incidence of thromboembolism (TE) in cancer patients. MethodsArticles were searched in PubMed and Embase from inception to November 1, 2022. Studies reporting the incidence data or data from which incidence could be estimated among patients with cancer and the explicit follow-up duration were included. ResultsSeventy-four studies involving 5059134 cancer patients were identified. The incidence rate per 1000 person-years was 11.60 (95% CI 7.62-15.58) for ATE, 6.11 (95% CI 3.70-8.53) for myocardial infarction, 9.07 (95% CI 7.48-10.66) for ischemic stroke, 2.11 (95% CI 0.89-3.31) for another ATE, 26.32 (95% CI 24.46-28.18) for VTE, 12.69 (95% CI 11.51-13.87) for deep vein thrombosis, 5.94 (95% CI 5.29-6.59) for pulmonary embolism, and 13.18 (95% CI 9.93-16.42) for another VTE. In addition, the highest incidence of ATE was observed in patients with gastrointestinal cancer, while patients with pancreatic cancer had the highest incidence of VTE. The risk of ATE and VTE increased at the initial stage of cancer, and then declined and became non-significant. ConclusionThis meta-analysis provided overall estimates of ATE and VTE incidence in cancer patients, adding an important insight into the trajectory of the development of TE in cancer patients, which could help reduce the risk of TE in cancer patients in the future.