Risk assessment of venous thromboembolism in hematological cancer patients: a review

Introduction: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a frequent and serious complication in cancer patients. Nonetheless, patients with hematological cancers receive less attention as compared with their solid tumor counterparts regarding this potentially fatal complication. Areas covered: Risk factors that are associated with the development of VTE in hematological cancers are discussed, based on a PubMed literature search. Since different hematological malignancies carry different risks of VTE, risk assessment in individual types of hematological cancers, including acute leukemias, lymphomas, myeloma, and myeloproliferative neoplasms are examined separately. Clinical relevance of VTE assessment and current guidelines on thromboprophylaxis in patients with hematological malignancies are also briefly reviewed. Expert opinion: When assessing VTE risk in patients with hematological cancers, in addition to the non-cancer specific risk factors, individual cancer-type-specific and the therapy-related factors must be taken into consideration. Primary thromboprophylaxis should be considered in high-risk patients.