
By David Altszuler, Class of 2012
Faculty Peer Reviewed
An empiric association between occult malignancy and thrombophlebitis has been recognized since Trousseau first reported the syndrome in 1865. The mechanism by which cancer predisposes to thrombophilia has not been fully elucidated; however, it is now clear that this is a symbiotic relationship. The second leading cause of death in hospitalized cancer patients (and a leading cause of death in ambulatory cancer patients) is venous thromboembolism. There are algorithms to identify cancer patients at high risk …