The addition of abdomen and pelvis CT to limited cancer screening does not increase diagnosis of cancer in patients with unprovoked venous thromboembolism

Commentary on : Carrier M, Lazo-Langner A, Shivakumar S, et al., SOME Investigators. Screening for occult cancer in unprovoked venous thromboembolism. N Engl J Med 2015;373:697–704.[OpenUrl][1][CrossRef][2][PubMed][3] In patients with unprovoked venous thromboembolism, occult malignancy is of concern. Studies have shown that more than 60% of occult cancers are diagnosed following unprovoked venous thromboembolism and up to 10% of patients with unprovoked venous thromboembolism are diagnosed with cancer within the following year.1 Despite this, the approach to evaluating patients for occult malignancy varies widely. Studies have described a limited technique of history, physical examination and laboratory tests, as well as utilising multimodal imaging techniques to detect cancer in these patients.2 ,3 Carrier and colleagues compared comprehensive and limited occult-cancer screening strategies in patients with unprovoked venous thromboembolism. This multicentre, randomised trial … [1]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DN%2BEngl%2BJ%2BMed%26rft.volume%253D373%26rft.spage%253D697%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.1056%252FNEJMoa1506623%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Apmid%252F26095467%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [2]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=10.1056/NEJMoa1506623&link_type=DOI [3]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=26095467&link_type=MED&atom=%2Febmed%2F21%2F1%2F19.atom