Blood Clots Caused by Cancer

When you get a cut, your blood clots, in order to close up the wound and begin healing. That is normal; without it, you would bleed to death. Blood clots that happen inside your veins are not natural and can kill you if they aren't treated. Cancer interferes with the blood's natural circulation process, and that can cause a blood clot. At least 50 percent of people with cancer, and 95 percent of the people who have cancer along with a metastatic disease, have an abnormality in the way that their blood coagulates.

• Some blood clots are deadly.

Prostate Cancer and Blood Clots

• Half the men diagnosed with prostate cancer don't actually die from the cancer. They die from heart-related problems such as strokes and blood clots. Unfortunately, there is no way to identify a clotting risk and if you do take preventive medication for blood clots, you can easily hemorrhage. All you can do is be aware of the symptoms and discuss it with your oncologist.

  If you have cancer, then thromboembolic complications are the second leading cause of death. Fifteen percent of cancer patients develop deep venous thrombosis (DVT) or disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). Those who undergo chemotherapy, hormone therapy, surgery, or central venous catheters have an increased rate of getting blood clots.

Link Between Blood Clots and Cancer

• Four percent of people who are hospitalized from a blood clot have an increased risk of receiving a diagnosis of cancer within within the first year. An average of 10 percent of the people with an unexplained blood clot had a diagnosis of cancer within the next two years.

  Cancer, before it can even be detected, may induce clotting. Cancer has been connected with hypercoagulable state, or increased blood clotting. Doctors think that blood clots may be one of the first signs of cancer. This is because patients undergo many tests to see why they had a blood clot. In many of the patients, cancer is found.

Bevacizumab Increases Risk of Blood Clots

• The cancer drug bevacizumab may increase your risk of developing blood clots in the legs or lungs. Shobha Rani Nalluri, M.D., of Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, N.Y., and her colleagues, conducted tests confirming this. 7,956 patients diagnosed with advanced solid tumors went through 15 randomized controlled trials. 11.9 percent had an incidence of all-grade venous thromboembolism. The risk of high-grade thromboembolism was 6.3 percent. There was a 33 percent greater risk of venous thromboembolism for patients on bevacizumab.

Blood Transfusions

• Blood transfusions used to treat cancer patients with anemia increase the risk of blood clots. Khorana did study involving 70,500 patients who received a blood transfusion. Khorana found that 7.2 developed venous thromboembolism and 5.2 percent developed arterial thromboembolism. Compared to the patients who did not have a blood transfusion, this was an increase of 3.8 and 3.1.

Certain Cancers and Blood Clots

• Mucin is a mucous substance produced by cancers of the lung, stomach, and bowel. This substance will increase your risk of blood clots. Certain cancers such as pancreatic, bowel, lung, stomach, ovary, womb, or acute myeloid leukemia can increase your risk of developing blood clots.