Blood clot risk found among men with prostate cancer

Men with prostate cancer are at a higher risk of blood clots, a new study suggests.

In the five years after their cancer diagnosis, men with prostate cancer have a 50% higher risk of developing a potentially deadly blood clot, researchers found.

The new study, published in the journal BMJ Open, examined data on 92,000 men in Sweden with prostate cancer compared to 466,000 who did not.

The men in the study were tracked to see whether they went on to develop blood clots, also known as venous thromboembolism (VTE).

Almost 3,000 men with prostate cancer went on to develop a blood clot compared to 10,000 men who did not have the condition.

Just over half (52%) of these VTEs were deep vein thrombosis, a clot which develops in a deep vein, usually the leg.

Those with prostate cancer who had a blood clot were diagnosed 2.5 years after their diagnosis, on average.

While those without prostate cancer who developed a clot did so 2.9 years after the start of the study period.

The authors concluded that men with prostate cancer had a 50% higher risk of developing a blood clot compared to men without the condition.

The researchers, from Germany and Sweden, wrote: “Swedish men with prostate cancer had a mean 50% increased risk of VTE during the five years following their cancer diagnosis compared with matched men free of prostate cancer.

“Physicians should be mindful of this marked increase in VTE risk in men with prostate cancer to help ensure timely diagnosis.”

Blood clots can be life threatening without prompt medical treatment.

Symptoms include a throbbing or cramping pain, swelling, redness and warmth in a leg or arm or sudden breathlessness, sharp chest pain, which may be worse with breath intake, and a cough or coughing up blood.