Is genetic screening necessary for determining the possibility of venous thromboembolism in cancer patients?

OBJECTIVE To determine the risk of an association with some genetic polymorphisms involved in venous thromboembolism (VTE) gene variations (FVL, FV H1299R, FII G20210A, MTHFR C677T, MTHFR A1298C, PAI-1 4G/5G, β-fibrinogen -455 G → A, FXIII Val34Leu and GpIIIa HPA-1a) in cancer patients. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Among 78 cancer patients, 28 who had proven first episode of VTE were selected as the patient group, with 50 control samples selected from age-, sex- and body mass index-matched healthy volunteers (healthy group). The differences in frequency of genetic polymorphisms were found to be statistically insignificant between these two groups. RESULTS Logistic regression analysis after adjustment for age, sex, smoking and hypertension showed no difference. The screened mutations of these genes were not significantly associated with VTE risk. CONCLUSION There is no possible benefit from genetic screening tests regarding VTE in cancer patients.