Blood & Cancer

Three studies revealed new findings on thrombosis in patients with cancer and/or COVID-19. These studies were presented at the 2020 annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology. One study suggested the Khorana score may be ineffective for predicting venous thromboembolism (VTE) in cancer patients. Another study revealed factors that can predict VTE in patients with cancer and COVID-19. And a third study indicated that antithrombotic agents don’t improve outcomes in patients with severe COVID-19.  Kristen M. Sanfilippo, MD, of Washington University, St. Louis, reviews these studies with host David H. Henry, MD, in this episode. Abstract 202: Performance of Khorana Score to Predict One-Year Risk of Venous Thromboembolism in Over Two Million Patients With Cancer. https://bit.ly/3oCHOfQ. The study included 2,112,260 patients with cancer. At 1 year after diagnosis, 227,170 (10.8%) patients had developed VTE. The Khorana score was a weak to modest predictor of the 1-year risk of VTE (area under the curve,