Blood type may offer insights into risk of blood clot in people with
cancer
New research suggests cancer patients with non-O blood types face an
increased blood clot risk

Date:
April 13, 2022
Source:
American Society of Hematology
Summary:
A new study suggests that people with cancer and non-O blood
types, such as types A, B, and AB, face an increased risk of
developing venous thromboembolism (VTE), or blood clots in the
veins, three months after their initial diagnosis. Scientists have
long strived to understand the risk factors for VTE, the leading
cause of preventable hospital deaths in the United States. Existing
assessments use factors like tumor or cancer type to detect those
at high risk of VTE. Yet, many patients without these diagnoses
still develop life-threatening blood clots but go unidentified.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A new Blood Advances study suggests that people with cancer and non-O
blood types, such as types A, B, and AB, face an increased risk of
developing venous thromboembolism (VTE), or blood clots in the veins,
three months after their initial diagnosis. Scientists have long strived
to understand the risk factors for VTE, the leading cause of preventable hospital deaths in the United States.

Existing assessments use factors like tumor or cancer type to detect
those at high risk of VTE. Yet, many patients without these diagnoses
still develop life-threatening blood clots but go unidentified.


==========================================================================
VTE includes deep-vein thrombosis (DVT), a blood clot that typically
forms in the deep veins of the leg, and pulmonary embolism (PE), a life-threatening condition that occurs when a blood clot breaks free and becomes lodged in the arteries of the lung. While these blood clots can
affect anyone, existing research suggests that those with non-O blood
types are more likely to develop VTE. Cancer and cancer therapies also
increase one's chances of developing blood clots, and while people with
severe forms of cancer are more likely to develop VTE, less research
exists on the risk among patients with cancers less associated with
thrombosis.

In the study, researchers investigated the role of non-O blood types
in participants' likelihood of developing VTE. They collected data from
1,708 adult participants with a new or recurrent cancer diagnosis from
the Vienna Cancer and Thrombosis Study (CATS) data set. Researchers
grouped participants first by blood type, then sorted them based on
their tumor classification.

Patients with pancreatic, gastroesophageal, and brain cancer tumors were considered to have high risk diagnoses. While tumor type can be useful
in identifying people more likely to develop VTE, many people with less
severe tumors still experience dangerous blood clots, and therefore may
require additional monitoring and treatment. The study findings suggest
blood typing may serve as another important predictive measure.

"We've known tumor type helps determine the baseline risk for VTE. But
we continue to see that these risk assessments fail to capture all cancer patients who develop these blood clots," explained study author Cornelia Englisch, an MD-PhD student at the Medical University of Vienna. "By
solely assessing tumor type, we miss up to 50% of people who develop VTE." Their results indicated that patients with non-O blood types were more
likely to develop VTE three months after their diagnosis or reoccurrence
of cancer.

According to Dr. Englisch, this association did not appear at the time
of diagnosis because cancer therapies increase patients' likelihood of developing blood clots, making blood type a less significant predictor
of VTE during early stages of treatment. Those with tumors outside of
the high-risk disease category with non-O blood type were more likely
to develop blood clots independent of time, showing that exclusively
depending on tumor type to detect VTE risk may cause many patients to
fall through the cracks.

Dr. Englisch noted that while novel, these findings are exploratory
and still require additional study. Going forward, the investigators
also aim to better understand the biological mechanisms underlying these findings. They hope that blood typing can serve as a useful tool in risk assessments for cancer- associated VTE in the future.

"Blood typing is easy to perform, can be done worldwide, and doesn't
require any specialized background knowledge or equipment," said
Dr. Englisch. "And of course, every risk factor that we identify helps us
to understand these life- threatening complications in cancer patients
better. Perhaps this will create awareness for the role blood types can
play as clinical biomarkers."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by American_Society_of_Hematology. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Cornelia Englisch, Florian Moik, Stephan Nopp, Markus Raderer,
Ingrid
Pabinger, Cihan Ay. ABO blood group type and risk of venous
thromboembolism in patients with cancer. Blood Advances, 2022;
DOI: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2021006283 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220413104208.htm

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