[Thrombosis and lung cancer]

Abstract

This relation is sometimes described as a double association: venous thromboembolism (VTE) can reveal cancer (so-called Trousseau syndrome), but cancer and its treatment are also risk factors for VTE. Lung cancer, frequent and serious, is one of the greatest purveyors of VTE, a disease that pneumologists and oncologists must often confront in diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. This article investigates the epidemiological, prevention, and treatment aspects of VTE in cancer patients, particularly those with lung cancer, but also discusses diagnostic specificities and, briefly, the possible antitumor effect of heparins.