Risk Is Life Threatening Among Cancer Patients.

A suite of resources from their Stop the Clot, Spread the Word campaign has been rolled out by the National Blood Clot Alliance and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with an important focus on the increased risk for dangerous blood clots among people who have cancer.

Up to 900,000 people are affected by blood clots in the U.S. each year. While anyone can develop them, about 20% of these clots occur among people with cancer, and are a major cause of death among these individuals.

"Blood clot prevention is part of the life-changing journey of surviving cancer--before, during, and after treatment," says Craig Hooper, director of the CDC's Division of Blood Disorders in the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. "It is important that patients, caregivers, and their medical team discuss blood clot prevention as part of one's treatment plan. Knowledge leads to early diagnosis and treatment that can be lifesaving."

Adds Alok Khorana, professor of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University and director of the Gastrointestinal Malignancies Program at the...