Mortality and bleeding events
The all-cause mortality was 38% (19/50). The mortality rate for the anticoagulation and no anticoagulation groups was 30% (n=3) and 40% (n=16), respectively, and this was not statistically significant (p =.7222). These deaths were mostly related to cancer progression and one patient died of pulmonary embolism (patient 6).
A larger percentage of patients on anticoagulation had bleeding complications than patients who did not receive anticoagulation (p <.05) (Anticoagulation cohort: n=4, 40%; no anticoagulation cohort: n=2, 5%). Of the 4 anticoagulated patients who bled, 3 had gastrointestinal bleeding. One with massive post-op intra-abdominal bleeding requiring exploratory laparotomy, two with bloody stool with no notable drop in hemoglobin. One patient had mild epistaxis and gingival bleeding. Two of the 40 patients who did not receive anticoagulation had bleeding complications, including one with intra-operative hemorrhagic shock due to intra-tumoral bleeding. No statistical difference was noted for bleeding events based on gender, ethnicity, or the type of tumor.