Early venous thromboembolism at the beginning of palliative chemotherapy is a poor prognostic factor in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND: This study investigated the prognostic effects of venous thromboembolism (VTE)-related factors in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer receiving palliative chemotherapy. Predictive factors for VTE were also investigated. METHODS: A total of 216 patients diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer who received gemcitabine-based palliative chemotherapy at our institution were retrospectively evaluated. RESULTS: VTE occurred in 51 (23.6%) patients during treatment and did not affect survival. However, patients who were diagnosed with VTE at the beginning of chemotherapy showed poor prognosis compared with patients diagnosed with VTE during chemotherapy: all patients (hazard ratio [HR] 1.897, p = 0.008); patients diagnosed with VTE (HR = 3.768, p = 0.001). Low serum sodium (Na) (< 135 mmol/L) and high Khorana score (≥3) were strong predictive factors of early VTE (odds ratio [OR] 5.109; 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 1.010–25.845; p = 0.049 for Khorana score, OR 10.304; 95% CI = 1.036–102.466; p = 0.047) for hyponatremia). CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated that occurrence and detection of VTE in the early period of chemotherapy was the most significant VTE-related prognostic factor in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer receiving chemotherapy. Prediction using the Khorana score and serum Na levels would be helpful in early diagnosis of VTE.