COMPASS-CAT versus Khorana risk assessment model for predicting venous thromboembolic events in patients with non-small cell lung cancer on active treatment with chemotherapy and/or immunotherapy, the CK-RAM study

Cancer patients are at higher risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE). Several risk assessment models (RAM), including the Khorana and COMPASS-CAT, were developed to help predict the occurrence of VTE in cancer patients on active anti-cancer therapy. We aim to study the prevalence and predictors of VTE among patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and compare both RAMs in predicting VTE in patients with NSCLC were retrospectively reviewed. Variables known to increase the risk of VTE were collected and risk of VTE was assessed using both Khorana and COMPASS-CAT RAM. A total of 508 patients (mean age ± SD, 58.4 ± 12.2 years) were enrolled. Most (n = 357, 70.3%) patients had adenocarcinoma, and 333 (65.6%) patients had metastatic disease. VTE were confirmed in 76 (15.0%) patients. Rates were higher among patients with metastatic disease (19.8%, p < 0.001), adenocarcinoma (17.4%, p = 0.01) and those treated with immunotherapy (23.5%, p = 0.014). VTE rates were 21.2%, 14.1% and 13.9% among those with high (n = 66), intermediate (n = 341) and low (n = 101) Khorana risk scores, respectively (p = 0.126). On the other hand, 190 (37.4%) were classified as high risk by the COMPASS-CAT RAM; 52 (27.4%) of them had VTE compared to 24 (7.5%) of the remaining 318 (62.6%) classified as Low/Intermediate risk level, p < 0.001. In conclusion, patients with NSCLC are at high risk for VTE, especially those with adenocarcinoma, metastatic disease and when treated with immunotherapy. Compared to Khorana RAM, COMPASS-CAT RAM was better in identifying more patients in high-risk group, with higher VTE rate.