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DOI: 10.1055/s-0039-1680127
GECAT - German Evaluation of Cancer associated Thrombosis: A Prospective Register Trial for Patients with Active Cancer and Venous Thromboembolism in Berlin
Publication History
Publication Date:
13 February 2019 (online)
Objectives: There are miscellaneous treatment recommendations for cancer patients (pts) with venous thromboembolism (VTE). Data about daily clinical practice of those patients in Germany are lacking.
Methods: The GECAT register was set up for Berlin´s two main hospital companies Charite-Universitaetsmedizin Berlin and Vivantes to document prospectively cancer patients with newly diagnosed VTE. Follow-ups were scheduled after 3 and 6 months via phone interview. The primary objective of this health service research study was to evaluate the treatment reality of patients suffering from cancer associated VTE in daily clinical practice. Main points of interest were diagnostics, anti-coagulation treatment and kind of cancer type as well as VTE localisation and severity.
Results: Between May 2015 and May 2017, 384 patients diagnosed with active cancer within the past 2 years and newly diagnosed VTE gave consent for inclusion in this register trial. 195 (51%) were female, 189 (49%) male, median age was 66 years (range 19–89). For 133 pts (35%), VTE was the primary reason for hospital admission, whereas 131 pts (35%) were transferred to one of the study sites by a medical oncologist, 118 pts (30%) via an emergency department and 52 pts (14%) by a general practitioner.
While 116 pts (30%) had isolated pulmonary embolism (PE), 69 (18%) had PE in and deep vein thrombosis (DVT) (including VTE of upper limb with or without catheter association, abdominal and cerebral veins) whereas 196 (51%) suffered from isolated DVT. In the vast majority of pts (n = 336, 88%), initial treatment was started with low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH). 251 pts (56%) presented with stage IV cancer diseases, the most common cancer sites were lung (n = 49, 13%), gynecological (n = 44, 11%) and colorectal (n = 38, 10%). 281 pts (73%) received anticancer treatments at the time of diagnosis of VTE.
Conclusions: The GECAT trial provides new and clinically relevant information about the daily clinical practice of cancer patients with newly diagnosed VTE in Berlin.
Trial registration: The study was approved by the local ethic committee “Aerztekammer Berlin” (01–2015) and registered in the German registry for clinical studies (DRKS00008196).
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No conflict of interest has been declared by the author(s).