Elevated preoperative plasma D-dimer levels and the incidence of venous thromboembolism in Japanese females with gynecological cancer

Deep Learning-Based Dynamic Risk Prediction of Venous Thromboembolism for Patients With Ovarian Cancer in Real-World Settings From Electronic Health Records

PURPOSE

Patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) have an elevated risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE). To assess the risk of VTE, models were developed by statistical or machine learning algorithms. However, few models have accommodated deep learning (DL) algorithms in realistic clinical settings. We aimed to develop a predictive DL model, exploiting rich information from electronic health records (EHRs), including dynamic clinical features and the presence of competing risks.

METHODS

We extracted EHRs of 1,268 patients diagnosed with EOC from January 2007 through December 2017 at the National Cancer Center, Korea. DL survival networks using fully connected layers, temporal attention, and recurrent neural networks were adopted and compared with multi-perceptron-based classification models. Prediction accuracy was independently validated in the data set of 423 patients newly diagnosed with EOC from January 2018 to December 2019. Personalized risk plots displaying the individual interval risk were developed.

RESULTS

DL-based survival networks achieved a superior area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) between 0.95 and 0.98 while the AUROC of classification models was between 0.85 and 0.90. As clinical information benefits the prediction accuracy, the proposed dynamic survival network outperformed other survival networks for the test and validation data set with the highest time-dependent concordance index (0.974, 0.975) and lowest Brier score (0.051, 0.049) at 6 months after a cancer diagnosis. Our visualization showed that the interval risk fluctuating along with the changes in longitudinal clinical features.

CONCLUSION

Adaption of dynamic patient clinical features and accounting for competing risks from EHRs into the DL algorithms demonstrated VTE risk prediction with high accuracy. Our results show that this novel dynamic survival network can provide personalized risk prediction with the potential to assist risk-based clinical intervention to prevent VTE among patients with EOC.

Therapeutic Strategies Focused on Cancer-Associated Hypercoagulation for Ovarian Clear Cell Carcinoma

Ovarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC) is associated with chemotherapy resistance and poor prognosis, especially in advanced cases. Although comprehensive genomic analyses have clarified the significance of genomic alterations such as ARID1A and PIK3CA mutations in OCCC, therapeutic strategies based on genomic alterations have not been confirmed. On the other hand, OCCC is clinically characterized by a high incidence of thromboembolism. Moreover, OCCC specifically shows high expression of tissue factor and interleukin-6, which play a critical role in cancer-associated hypercoagulation and may be induced by OCCC-specific genetic alterations or the endometriosis-related tumor microenvironment. In this review, we focused on the association between cancer-associated hypercoagulation and molecular biology in OCCC. Moreover, we reviewed the effectiveness of candidate drugs targeting hypercoagulation, such as tissue factor- or interleukin-6-targeting drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs, anti-hypoxia signaling drugs, anticoagulants, and combined immunotherapy with these drugs for OCCC. This review is expected to contribute to novel basic research and clinical trials for the prevention, early detection, and treatment of OCCC focused on hypercoagulation.

Malignant tumor is the greatest risk factor for pulmonary embolism in hospitalized patients: a single-center study

Background

This study aimed to investigate the background of patients who presented with pulmonary embolism (PE) on contrast-enhanced chest computed tomography (CT) and to explore the risk factors for PE.

Methods

This study included a review of the medical records of all 50,621 patients who were admitted to one community hospital between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2017. Data on sex, age, risk factors related to blood flow stagnation (obesity, long-term bed rest, cardiopulmonary disease, cast fixation, long-term sitting), risk factors related to vascular endothelial disorder (surgery, trauma/fracture, central venous catheterization, catheter tests/treatments, vasculitis, antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, history of venous thromboembolism (VTE)), and risk factors related to hypercoagulability (malignant tumor, use of oral contraceptives/low-dose estrogen progestin/steroids, infection, inflammatory enteric disease, polycythemia, protein C or protein S deficiency, dehydration) were evaluated.

Results

Of all inpatients, 179(0.35%) out of 50,621 were diagnosed with PE after contrast-enhanced chest CT examination, in which 74 patients were symptomatic and 105 patients had no symptom. Among asymptomatic 105 patients, 71 patients got CT scans for other reasons including cancer screening and searching infection focus, and 34 patients got CT scans for searching PE due to either apparent or suspicious DVT. The rate of discovering PE was significantly greater in women (0.46%, 90/19,409) than men (0.29%, 89/31,212) (P = 0.008). Of the 179 patients with PE, 164 (92%) had some type of risk factor. For both men and women, the most frequent risk factor was a malignant tumor, followed by obesity, long-term bed rest and infection for men and long-term bed rest, obesity and infection for women. The most common malignant tumor was lung cancer. Although taking antipsychotic agent is not advocated as a risk factor, there is a possibility of involvement.

Conclusions

The risk factors for PE were identified in this single-center, retrospective study.

Incidence and risk of venous thromboembolism according to primary treatment type in women with endometrial cancer: a population-based study

Background

Current prophylaxes and treatments for venous thromboembolism (VTE) in women with gynecologic cancer are mainly guided by studies on solid cancers because studies in gynecologic cancer did not provide sufficient data. Large-scale studies evaluating the incidence and risk of VTE according to therapeutic modality may guide prophylaxis and treatment of VTE in gynecologic cancer. This study was performed to determine the incidence and risk of VTE according to primary treatment type in Korean women with endometrial cancer.

Methods

We selected 26,256 women newly diagnosed with endometrial cancer between 2009 and 2018 from the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service database. During the total follow-up period and first six months after primary treatments initiation, the incidence and risk of VTE were evaluated according to primary treatment type, that is, no treatment, surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or hormone therapy.

Results

VTE occurred in 136 per 10,000 women during the total follow-up period and in 54 per 10,000 women during the first six months with the highest frequency in women that underwent chemotherapy. During the first year, the monthly incidence of VTE decreased with time among women that underwent no treatment, surgery, or hormone therapy and remained unchanged in those that received radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Compared with women that received no treatment, VTE risk, especially of PE significantly increased in women that underwent chemotherapy (VTE: hazard ratio (HR), 2.334; 95% CI, 1.38–3.949; P = 0.002) (PE: HR, 2.742; 95% CI, 1.424–5.278; P = 0.003) or hormone therapy (VTE: HR, 2.073; 95% CI, 1.356–3.17; P = 0.001) (PE: HR, 2.086; 95% CI, 1.19–3.657; P = 0.01) during the total follow-up period and women that underwent only chemotherapy during the first six months (VTE: HR, 2.532; 95% CI, 1.291–4.966; P = 0.007) (PE: HR, 3.366; 95% CI, 1.496–7.576; P = 0.003).

Conclusions

In this cohort study, the incidence and risk of VTE were highest in women with endometrial cancer that underwent chemotherapy as a primary treatment. Notably, the incidence of VTE decreased over time in women that received no treatment, surgery, or hormone therapy. This study can help guide therapies for prophylaxis and treatment of VTE in women with endometrial cancer.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-021-08853-x.

A Nomogram for Predicting Risk of Thromboembolism in Gastric Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy

Purpose: The aims of this study were to develop and validate a novel nomogram to predict thromboembolism (TE) in gastric cancer (GC) patients receiving chemotherapy and to test its predictive ability.

Methods: This retrospective study included 544 GC patients who received chemotherapy as the initial treatment at two medical centers. Among the 544 GC patients who received chemotherapy, 275 and 137 patients in the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University from January 2014 to March 2019 were enrolled in the training cohort and the validation cohort, respectively. A total of 132 patients in the Beilun branch of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University from January 2015 to August 2019 were enrolled in external validation cohorts. The nomogram was based on parameters determined by univariate and multivariate logistic analyses. The prediction performance of the nomogram was measured by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC), the calibration curve, and decision curve analysis (DCA). The applicability of the nomogram was internally and independently validated.

Results: The predictors included the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status (ECOG), presence of an active cancer (AC), central venous catheter (CVC), and D-dimer levels. These risk factors are shown on the nomogram and verified. The nomogram demonstrated good discrimination and fine calibration with an AUROC of 0.875 (0.832 in internal validation and 0.807 in independent validation). The DCA revealed that the nomogram had a high clinical application value.

Conclusions: We propose the nomogram for predicting TE in patients with GC receiving chemotherapy, which can help in making timely personalized clinical decisions for different risk populations.

High prevalence of pulmonary embolism prior to cancer therapies in patients with ovarian and endometrial cancers detected by contrast-enhanced CT using D-dimer as an index

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of pulmonary embolism (PE) before cancer therapies in patients with ovarian and endometrial cancers with enhanced computed tomography (CT) using D-dimer (DD), and determine the optimal cut-off level of DD.

METHODS

Since 2009, we have performed preoperative venous thromboembolism (VTE) screening of patients with ovarian and endometrial cancer. For patients with DD levels of more than 1.0 μg/ml, enhanced CT images were obtained from the pulmonary apex to the foot to detect PE and deep venous thrombosis (DVT) simultaneously.

RESULTS

Among patients with ovarian cancer, 84 of 413 (20.3%) had VTEs (DVT alone, n = 31 [7.5%]; PE with or without DVT, n = 53 [12.8%]; PE alone, n = 12 [2.9%]). Among patients with endometrial cancer, 50 of 455 (11.0%) had VTEs (DVT alone, n = 19 [4.2%]; PE with or without DVT, n = 31 [6.8%], PE alone, n = 14 [3.1%]). The optimal cut-off level of DD was estimated to be ≥1.5 and ≥1.2 μg/ml in ovarian and endometrial cancers, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Our study revealed a high prevalence of PE before cancer therapies in patients with ovarian and endometrial cancers by enhanced CT using DD.

The prevalence, risk factors, and prognostic value of venous thromboembolism in ovarian cancer patients receiving chemotherapy: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) in ovarian cancer (OC) patients has been widely investigated, but our knowledge on the role of VTE in OC patients receiving chemotherapy is limited. The aim of our study was to investigate the prevalence, risk factors, and prognostic value of chemotherapy-associated VTE in OC.

METHODS

Three databases (PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library) were systematically searched from inception to October 14, 2020. The primary outcome was the prevalence of VTE in OC patients receiving chemotherapy. The risk factors and prognostic value of VTE were the secondary outcomes. The pooled prevalence of VTE was estimated using the generic inverse-variance method. The statistical heterogeneity was evaluated with Cochran's Q test and I² statistic. Funnel plot, Begg's test, and Egger's test were used to assess the potential publication bias in the meta-analysis.

RESULTS

A total of eleven observational studies with 4759 OC patients were included. The pooled prevalence of VTE was 9% (95% CI, 0.06-0.12) in OC patients receiving chemotherapy. The results of subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis were basically consistent with the overall pooled estimate. Multiple significant risk factors associated with VTE were also identified including advanced age, D-dimer > 0.5 mg/mL, and tumor diameter > 10 cm. Only two included studies reported the prognostic value of VTE in OC patients receiving chemotherapy, but with inconsistent results. Funnel plot showed that there existed potential publication bias, which was further verified by statistical test, but the results of the trim-and-fill method showed the pooled estimate kept stable after adding two "missing" studies.

CONCLUSIONS

This current study revealed that the pooled prevalence of chemotherapy-related VTE in OC was approximately 9% in OC patients. Risk factors for chemotherapy-related VTE were also identified which may contribute to targeting potentially preventative measures for VTE in OC.

Meta-Analysis of VTE Risk: Ovarian Cancer Patients by Stage, Histology, Cytoreduction, and Ascites at Diagnosis

Venous thromboembolisms (VTEs) have been a leading secondary cause of death among ovarian cancer patients, prompting multiple studies of risk factors. The objective of this meta-analysis is to quantify the associations between VTE and the most commonly reported risk factors among ovarian cancer patients. PubMed, Embase, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) were used to identify observational studies. Two reviewers independently abstracted data and assessed quality via the Newcastle–Ottawa tool. A random effects model was used to calculate the pooled odds ratios for VTE with each of the following exposures: advanced cancer stage, clear cell histology, serous histology, ascites at diagnosis, and complete cytoreduction. The I² and Q tests were used to evaluate heterogeneity. Twenty cohort studies with 6,324 total ovarian cancer patients, 769 of whom experienced a VTE, were included. The odds of VTE in ovarian cancer patients were higher among patients with cancer stage III/IV (versus cancer stage I/II, pooled odds ratio (OR) 2.73; 95% CI 1.84–4.06; I²= 64%), clear cell (versus nonclear cell) histology (OR 2.11; 95% CI 1.55–2.89; I² = 6%), and ascites (versus no ascites) at diagnosis (OR 2.12; 95% CI 1.51–2.96; I² = 32%). Serous (versus nonserous) histology (OR 1.26; 95% CI 0.91–1.75; I² = 42%) and complete (versus incomplete) cytoreduction (OR 1.05; 95% CI 0.27–4.11; I² = 88%) were not associated with VTE. This meta-analysis quantifies the significantly elevated odds of VTE in ovarian cancer patients with advanced stage at diagnosis, clear cell histology, and ascites at diagnosis. Further studies are needed to account for confounders and inform clinical decision-making tools.

Prevalence of venous thromboembolism at pretreatment screening and associated risk factors in 2086 patients with gynecological cancer

AIM

Postoperative pulmonary embolism can be a fatal surgical complication and is thought to occur secondary to asymptomatic venous thromboembolism (VTE) that exists preoperatively in some patients. The purpose of this study was to clarify the frequency and risk factors of pretreatment VTE in gynecological cancer patients.

METHODS

This study investigated 2086 patients with gynecological cancer (cervix, n = 754; endometrium, n = 862; ovary, n = 470) who underwent initial treatment between 2004 and 2017. Pretreatment VTE screening was performed with D-dimer (DD) levels in these patients. Based on this, the associated risk factors were retrospectively analyzed.

RESULTS

Pretreatment VTE was discovered in 7.3% of patients with cervical cancer, 11.5% of those with endometrial cancer and 27.0% of those with ovarian cancer. Significant independent risk factors were: age greater than or equal to 60 years and tumor long diameter greater than or equal to 40 mm for cervical cancer; age greater than or equal to 60 years, stage III/IV advanced disease, clear cell carcinoma and tumor long diameter greater than or equal to 60 mm for endometrial cancer; and age greater than or equal to 60 years, clear cell carcinoma and massive ascites for ovarian cancer.

CONCLUSION

Pretreatment asymptomatic VTE is very frequent in gynecological cancer patients. It may be beneficial to consider measuring DD or performing venous ultrasonography in patients with the above risk factors.

Incidence and risk factors of preoperative venous thromboembolism and pulmonary embolism in patients with ovarian cancer

INTRODUCTION

To determine the incidence and predisposing factors of preoperative venous thromboembolism (VTE), especially pulmonary embolism (PE) in patients with ovarian cancer.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

This retrospective study included 387 patients with primary ovarian cancer, whose preoperative work up included both ultrasonography of lower extremity vein and spiral computed tomography pulmonary angiogram, from September 2013 to November 2016. SPSS 22 was used for statistical analyses.

RESULTS

The incidence of preoperative VTE and PE was 13.4% (52 patients), 9.3%(36 patients), respectively. Both the univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that D-dimer (DDI) level, age, and massive ascites were associated with preoperative VTE. Moreover, DDI level (odds ratio [OR] 3.133, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.193-8.225, p = .02), massive ascites (OR 9.972, 95% CI 3.687-26.968, p < .001), and preoperative deep vein thrombosis (OR 5.977, 95% CI 2.073-17.228, p = .001) were independent predictors for preoperative PE. Additionally, the incidence of preoperative VTE and PE increased with increasing DDI levels (p < .001). DDI level < 1.5 μg/ml has 100% negative predictive value and 100% sensitivity for diagnosis of preoperative VTE and PE; however, DDI >5 μg/ml, the incidence of preoperative VTE and PE were 18.4% and 14.2% respectively. Moreover, DDI value was significantly correlated with preoperative PE volume (r = 0.746, p < .001).

CONCLUSION

Preoperative VTE and PE are common events in patients with ovarian cancer. DDI level is a useful parameter for diagnosing and evaluating preoperative VTE and PE.

High plasma D-dimer level is a poor prognostic factor for patients with waldenström macroglobulinemia

Waldenström Macroglobulinemia (WM) is a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma with great heterogeneity, and data on the role of D-dimer in the progression of WM are limited. We retrospectively searched medical records for 110 newly diagnosed WM patients who were admitted to the department of hematology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from January 2009 to December 2018. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to assess prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Characteristics associated with elevated D-dimer level in WM patients were high serum beta-2 macroglobulin, elevated serum lactic dehydrogenase, cytogenetic abnormalities and late stage of the international stage system of WM. Patients with D-dimer >0.55 mg/L had worse OS and PFS. In conclusion, high level of D-dimer was associated with poor survival and acted as a negative predictor for untreated WM patients.

Clinical and Prognostic Significance of Coagulation Assays in Pancreatic Cancer Patients With Absence of Venous Thromboembolism

OBJECTIVES

Activation of coagulation and fibrinolysis is frequently observed in patients with cancer, even with absence of thrombosis. Furthermore, plasma coagulation parameters were associated with tumor progression, metastasis, and prognosis. Few studies have investigated these associations in pancreatic cancer (PA). This study aimed to investigate the clinical and prognostic significance of various plasma coagulation tests in PA patients with absence of venous thromboembolism (VTE).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 139 PA patients with the absence of VTE were included in the analysis. Patients were followed up for at least 12 months until death. Pretreatment coagulation parameters including prothrombin time (PT), international normalized ratio (INR), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), fibrinogen (F), antithrombin-III (AT-III), protein C (PC), factor-VIII (F-VIII), and D-dimer (DD) were evaluated. A total of 40 age-matched and sex-matched healthy individuals without coagulation disorder were enrolled as the control group.

RESULTS

Patients were inclined to have higher levels of PT, INR, APTT, F, F-VIII, and DD and lower levels of AT-III and PC than the control group (P<0.01 for all, except P=0.022 for INR and P=0.015 for AT-III). Patients with advanced tumor stages were likely to have higher median DD levels and lower AT-III levels than the control group (P=0.005 and P<0.001, respectively). DD levels were higher in patients with advanced pathology grade (P<0.001). Plasma DD levels (hazards ratio=1.71; 95% confidence interval, 1.07-2.73; P=0.025) were identified as the significantly independent prognostic predictors.

CONCLUSIONS

PA patients are susceptible to activation of hemostasis system. Pretreatment plasma DD level was a potential predictor of prognosis in PA patients without VTE.

Postoperative decreased levels of D-dimer in patients with gynecologic cancer with enoxaparin and fondaparinux thromboprophylaxis

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of enoxaparin (ENO) and fondaparinux (FPX) on postoperative plasma D-dimer levels and risk factors associated with postoperative venous thromboembolism (VTE) and pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) in patients with gynecologic cancer. For this study, 434 patients with gynecologic cancer were recruited and a surgical treatment strategy was employed. Plasma D-dimer levels were measured prior to surgery, as well as on a schedule up to 3 weeks postoperatively and again after day 28. Patients with clinical signs and elevation of the plasma D-dimer level underwent multidetector row computed tomography. The D-dimer value was significantly lower in patients with ENO or FPX on postoperative days 3–10 compared to patients with gynecologic cancers who were not receiving ENO or FPX. The D-dimer value was significantly lower in patients with FPX compared to patients with ENO on postoperative days 5–7. The D-dimer value on postoperative day 3, the use of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs), advancing age and non-O blood group were independent risk factors for postoperative VTE. The D-dimer value on postoperative day 3 and the use of ESAs were independent risk factors for postoperative PTE. The postoperative D-dimer value was significantly lower in patients with gynecologic cancer who were administered ENO or FPX compared to patients were not administered either ENO or FPX. The use of ESAs and high plasma D-dimer levels on postoperative day 3 were independent risk factors for postoperative VTE and PTE.