[Lung cancer with venous thrombo-embolism: clinical characteristics]

Lung cancer is the most common malignancy diagnosed in patients with venous thrombo-embolism (VTE).To investigate clinical, biological, radiological features and survival of lung cancer patients with VTE.Retrospective case-control study investigating biologic, clinical course and survival of 25 patients lung cancers with VTE (Group M) and 50 lung cancers without VTE (group T).The frequency of the VTE was 5.88% with 2.58% pulmonary embolism (PE). The mean age was 58 years ± 9.8 in group M and 57.9 years ± 9.6 in group T. No significant difference concerning medical or surgical history for both groups was found. The dyspnea and chest pain were at equal frequency (63.6%). Regarding the clinical probability of the PE, it was no significant differences between the two groups. A rate of D-dimer0.7μg/l was more frequent among group M (75% vs 20%; p = 0.054). The most common histological type was nonsmall cell lung cancer (88%). A stage IV was significantly more frequent in group M (86.4% vs. 52.3%; p = 0.007). The mean period of survival in Group M was 10.6 ± 1.2 month and 20.2 + 1.8 month in group T; p = 0.38.The VTE associated to lung cancer is under diagnosed. Prospective studies are needed to establish more adapted scores.