Breast
can
cer patients are
considered to be at relatively low risk of developing a TEE. The highest in
ciden
ce of VTE events o
ccurs in metastati
c breast
can
cer patients likely due to extension of disease, immobility for pathologi
c bone fra
ctures,
can
cer
ca
chexia and venous
compression by the tumour mass. Although thrombosis is less
common in patients with early stage
can
cer
compared to those with more advan
ced disease, it does o
ccur and is
clini
cally
challenging.
The adjuvant setting is of particular interest in order to assess the specific thrombogenic potential of systemic chemotherapy, because of the low tumor burden with only microscopic tumor foci at the time of treatment administration.
This review summarizes risk factors, incidence and strategies to avoid VTE in breast cancer patients receiving adjuvant therapy.