Cancer patients and awareness of venous thromboembolism.

Cancer-associated thrombosis leads to morbidity and mortality in cancer patients. We sought to ascertain awareness of venous thromboembolism (VTE) and receptiveness to thromboprophylaxis amongst ambulatory cancer patients. In all 190 patients completed the survey over a three-week period. Of these, 100 patients (53%) reported unawareness of the increased risk of thrombosis with malignancy. Of the examined patients, 161 (86%) were willing to use oral anticoagulant for prophylaxis, and 86 (46%) were willing to perform daily anticoagulant injections. This study reveals an alarming lack of knowledge amongst patients regarding the increased risk of thrombosis. Informed patients are willing to use prophylaxis, if its effectiveness is established.