Health officials raising awareness of blood clot risk in cancer patients

Oct. 14--National and local health care officials are working to raise awareness of the risk of blood clots among cancer patients.

The National Blood Clot Alliance (NBCA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are driving the emphasis on blood clot education through their "Stop the Clot, Spread the Word" campaign, with a focus on the increased risk for blood clots in cancer patients.

According to NBCA, up to 900,000 people are affected by blood clots in the United States each year.

"While anyone can develop blood clots, about 20%, or 1 in 5 of these clots, occur among people with cancer," according to the press release. "Blood clots are a leading cause of death among people with cancer."

Knowing about and preventing those clots can be life-saving, said Craig Hooper, director of CDC's Division of Blood Disorders in the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities.

"Blood clot prevention is part of the life-changing journey of surviving cancer -- before, during, and after treatment," Hooper said. "It is important that patients, caregivers and their medical team discuss blood clot prevention as part of one's treatment plan. Knowledge leads to early diagnosis and treatment that can be lifesaving."

Weslie White, director of Oncology Services at St. Mary's Cancer Center in Enid, said providing education on possible side effects, including blood clots, is an important part of the treatment process.

"Due to an enhanced risk of blood clots among the cancer population, we educate our patients to notify their physician if they notice signs of swelling, redness or tenderness in lower extremities," White said. "As part of each visit to the center, the patient's legs are assessed and if any suspicious signs are noted, patients are sent for an ultrasound.

"Symptoms of clots in the lungs include shortness of breath, chest pain and coughing up blood," White said, "again, if any of these symptoms are noted an emergent call to the patient's physician is made for proper diagnosis and treatment."

NBCA and CDC are taking that education campaign beyond the clinical environment, to "encourage people diagnosed with cancer to recognize that they are at increased risk for blood clots."

The resources place emphasis on patient recognition of the signs and symptoms of blood clots and the importance of early diagnosis and treatment.

"Survival is lower among people with cancer who experience a blood clot than it is among people with cancer who do not have blood clots," Alok Khorana, MD, professor of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, and director of the Gastrointestinal Malignancies Program at the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, said in the NBCA press release. "This is why it's so important for these patients to be vigilant and let their cancer doctor know right away if they experience any blood clot symptoms. It's tragic when a patient is mounting a successful fight against cancer and then loses life due to a blood clot."

According to Dr. Khorana, who also is a member of NBCA's Medical & Scientific Advisory Board, blood clots that form in the legs can travel to the lung, which can be deadly.

The symptoms of blood clots in the legs include pain, swelling, tenderness, and redness or discoloration of the skin. Symptoms of blood clots in the lungs include shortness of breath, sharp chest pain that worsens with a deep breath, and coughing up blood. Prevention, early diagnosis and treatment are lifesaving measures, according to the press release.

For more information, visit www.stoptheclot.org/spreadtheword/cancer.

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