Non-O blood types linked to increased venous thromboembolism risk in patients with cancer
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Individuals with non-O blood types had an increased risk for venous thromboembolism 3 months after a cancer diagnosis or recurrence, according to study results published in Blood Advances.
Additionally, researchers noted an association of non-O blood types with an increased risk for VTE among patients with intermediate and low-risk tumor types.
Rationale and methods
“VTE is a common complication in patients with cancer , including deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism,” Cihan Ay, MD, professor in the clinical division of hematology in the department of medicine at Medical University of Vienna in Austria, told Healio. “ Non-O blood type, including type A, AB or B, is a known risk factor for VTE in the general noncancer population. It is the most common genetic risk factor for thrombosis. Whether this is also the case in patients with cancer has not yet been clarified. We, therefore, wanted to assess whether ABO blood type also plays a role in cancer-associated thrombosis.”
Researchers conducted an analysis of 1,708 patients with newly diagnosed or recurrent cancer included in the prospective cohort Vienna Cancer and Thrombosis Study (CATS).
VTE served as the primary outcome. Median follow-up was 24 months.
Key findings
According to study results, 151 patients (8.8%) developed VTE.
Although researchers did not observe an association between non-O blood type and VTE risk (standardized HR [sHR] = 1; 95% CI, 0.6-1.67) within the first 3 months of follow-up, they did observe an association between non-O blood type and a higher VTE risk thereafter (sHR = 1.79; 95% CI, 1.12-2.85).
Moreover, results showed an association between non-O blood type and increased VTE risk among patients with intermediate and low thrombotic risk tumor types (sHR = 1.73; 95% CI, 1.09-2.73). Conversely, researchers did not observe an association between VTE risk and non-O blood type among those with very high-risk tumor types, including pancreatic, gastroesophageal and brain cancer (sHR = 0.94; 95% CI, 0.55-1.61). Researchers noted that the association weakened after adjustment for factor VIII.
“Interestingly, patients with low-VTE-risk tumor types were found to have a higher thrombosis risk independent of time if they had a non-O blood type. Thus, blood type was particularly useful in predicting VTE in those patients,” Ay said.
Implications
ABO blood typing is easy, can be done anywhere in the world and requires no special background knowledge or equipment; therefore, it would be helpful to use it in risk assessment, Ay said.
“Although these findings are new, they are exploratory in nature and, therefore, need further investigation,” he added. “Moreover, it would be of interest to better understand the mechanism that underlies this observation. In general, the desire to understand the mechanism underlying cancer-associated thrombosis is strong and, thus, our aim for future research.”
For more information:
Cihan Ay, MD, can be reached at Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria; email: cihan.ay@meduniwien.ac.at.
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