Venous thromboembolism and mortality in breast cancer: cohort study with systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Breast cancer patients are at an increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE). However, current evidence as to whether VTE increases the risk of mortality in breast cancer patients is conflicting. We present data from a large cohort of patients from the UK and pool these with previous...

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Main Authors: Khan, Umair T., Walker, Alex J., Baig, Sadaf, Card, Tim R., Kirwan, Cliona C., Grainge, Matthew J.
Format: Article
Published: BioMed Central 2017
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Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48129/
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author Khan, Umair T.
Walker, Alex J.
Baig, Sadaf
Card, Tim R.
Kirwan, Cliona C.
Grainge, Matthew J.
author_facet Khan, Umair T.
Walker, Alex J.
Baig, Sadaf
Card, Tim R.
Kirwan, Cliona C.
Grainge, Matthew J.
author_sort Khan, Umair T.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Background Breast cancer patients are at an increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE). However, current evidence as to whether VTE increases the risk of mortality in breast cancer patients is conflicting. We present data from a large cohort of patients from the UK and pool these with previous data from a systematic review. Methods Using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) dataset, we identified a cohort of 13,202 breast cancer patients, of whom 611 were diagnosed with VTE between 1997 and 2006 and 12,591 did not develop VTE. Hazard ratios (HR) were used to compare mortality between the two groups. These were then pooled with existing data on this topic identified via a search of the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases (until January 2015) using a random-effects meta-analysis. Results Within the CPRD, VTE was associated with increased mortality when treated as a time-varying covariate (HR = 2.42; 95% CI, 2.13–2.75), however, when patients were permanently classed as having VTE based on presence of a VTE event within 6 months of cancer diagnosis, no increased risk was observed (HR = 1.22; 0.93–1.60). The pooled HR from seven studies using the second approach was 1.69 (1.12–2.55), with no effect seen when restricted to studies which adjusted for key covariates. Conclusion A large HR for VTE in the time-varying covariate analysis reflects the known short-term mortality following a VTE. When breast cancer patients are fortunate to survive the initial VTE, the influence on longer-term mortality is less certain.
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spelling nottingham-481292020-05-04T19:16:54Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48129/ Venous thromboembolism and mortality in breast cancer: cohort study with systematic review and meta-analysis Khan, Umair T. Walker, Alex J. Baig, Sadaf Card, Tim R. Kirwan, Cliona C. Grainge, Matthew J. Background Breast cancer patients are at an increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE). However, current evidence as to whether VTE increases the risk of mortality in breast cancer patients is conflicting. We present data from a large cohort of patients from the UK and pool these with previous data from a systematic review. Methods Using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) dataset, we identified a cohort of 13,202 breast cancer patients, of whom 611 were diagnosed with VTE between 1997 and 2006 and 12,591 did not develop VTE. Hazard ratios (HR) were used to compare mortality between the two groups. These were then pooled with existing data on this topic identified via a search of the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases (until January 2015) using a random-effects meta-analysis. Results Within the CPRD, VTE was associated with increased mortality when treated as a time-varying covariate (HR = 2.42; 95% CI, 2.13–2.75), however, when patients were permanently classed as having VTE based on presence of a VTE event within 6 months of cancer diagnosis, no increased risk was observed (HR = 1.22; 0.93–1.60). The pooled HR from seven studies using the second approach was 1.69 (1.12–2.55), with no effect seen when restricted to studies which adjusted for key covariates. Conclusion A large HR for VTE in the time-varying covariate analysis reflects the known short-term mortality following a VTE. When breast cancer patients are fortunate to survive the initial VTE, the influence on longer-term mortality is less certain. BioMed Central 2017-11-10 Article PeerReviewed Khan, Umair T., Walker, Alex J., Baig, Sadaf, Card, Tim R., Kirwan, Cliona C. and Grainge, Matthew J. (2017) Venous thromboembolism and mortality in breast cancer: cohort study with systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Cancer, 17 (747). pp. 1-13. ISSN 1471-2407 Breast cancer Venous thromboembolism Pulmonary embolism Deep vein thrombosis Mortality Prognosis Cohort study Systematic review Meta-analysis https://bmccancer.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12885-017-3719-1 doi:10.1186/s12885-017-3719-1 doi:10.1186/s12885-017-3719-1
spellingShingle Breast cancer
Venous thromboembolism
Pulmonary embolism
Deep vein thrombosis
Mortality
Prognosis
Cohort study
Systematic review
Meta-analysis
Khan, Umair T.
Walker, Alex J.
Baig, Sadaf
Card, Tim R.
Kirwan, Cliona C.
Grainge, Matthew J.
Venous thromboembolism and mortality in breast cancer: cohort study with systematic review and meta-analysis
title Venous thromboembolism and mortality in breast cancer: cohort study with systematic review and meta-analysis
title_full Venous thromboembolism and mortality in breast cancer: cohort study with systematic review and meta-analysis
title_fullStr Venous thromboembolism and mortality in breast cancer: cohort study with systematic review and meta-analysis
title_full_unstemmed Venous thromboembolism and mortality in breast cancer: cohort study with systematic review and meta-analysis
title_short Venous thromboembolism and mortality in breast cancer: cohort study with systematic review and meta-analysis
title_sort venous thromboembolism and mortality in breast cancer: cohort study with systematic review and meta-analysis
topic Breast cancer
Venous thromboembolism
Pulmonary embolism
Deep vein thrombosis
Mortality
Prognosis
Cohort study
Systematic review
Meta-analysis
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48129/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48129/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48129/