Is Genetic Screening Necessary for Determining the Possibility of Venous Thromboembolism in Cancer Patients?

Objective: To determine the risk of an association with some genetic polymorphisms involved in venous thromboembolism (VTE) gene variations (FVL, FV H1299R, FII G20210A, MTHFR C677T, MTHFR A1298C, PAI-1 4G/5G, beta-fibrinogen -455 G -> A, FXIII Val34Leu and GpIIIa HPA-1a) in cancer patients. Subjects and Methods: Among 78 cancer patients, 28 who had proven first episode of VTE were selected as the patient group, with 50 control samples selected from age-, sex-and body mass index-matched healthy volunteers (healthy group). The differences in frequency of genetic polymorphisms were found to be statistically insignificant between these two groups. Results: Logistic regression analysis after adjustment for age, sex, smoking and hypertension showed no difference. The screened mutations of these genes were not significantly associated with VTE risk. Conclusion: There is no possible benefit from genetic screening tests regarding VTE in cancer patients. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel