Dilemma in clinical practice: methods of tumor detection in patients with deep vein thrombosis

Thrombosis being developed on the basis of acquired thrombophilia is a frequent and recognized complication of malignant diseases. Thrombosis may be presenting the first (and the only) symptom of cancers, therefore some kind of diagnostic procedure seems to be necessary for detecting malignancies. The occurrence of deep venous thrombosis with solid tumors had been studied, and the literature had been reviewed. The authors have discussed: 1. The epidemiology, 2. The prevalence and incidence of cancer with different types of thrombosis, 3. The most frequent malignancies, 4. The occult and undiagnosed tumors, 5. The cases at an early stage of cancer. Finally the authors tried to define a suitable diagnostic strategy. The point of this standard is that a detailed screening in patients at a high risk of cancer is reasonable even if there are no symptoms suggesting malignancy.