Adult breast, lung, pancreatic, upper and lower gastrointestinal cancer patients with venous thromboembolism in the nationalFrench hospital discharge database

Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) and cancer are strongly associated. In France, evidence on patients with pancreatic, upper GI [gastrointestinal], lower GI, lung, or breast cancer-associated VTE and their hospital management is limited.MethodsThis longitudinal, observational, and retrospective study was based on the comprehensive hospital discharge database (PMSI). Adult patients (≥18 years old) hospitalized with a cancer of interest in 2016 and later (≤2 years) hospitalized with VTE were included in the study.ResultsWe identified 340,946 cancer patients, of which 7.2% (24,433 patients) were hospitalized with VTE. The proportions were 14.6% (3,237 patients) in patients with pancreatic cancer, 11.2% (8,339) with lung cancer, 9.9% (2,232) with upper GI cancer, 6.7% (7,011) with lower GI cancer, and 3.1% (3,614) with breast cancer.Around a third of patients entered the hospital through the emergency room, up to 3% of patients stayed in an intensive care unit. The mean hospital stay duration ranged from 10 (breast cancer) to 15 days (upper GI cancer). Nine (lower GI cancer) to 18% (pancreatic cancer) of patients died during the VTE hospital stay.ConclusionsThe burden of cancer-associated VTE is substantial. These findings offer guidance on future research on VTE prophylaxis in a very high-risk population.