They can develop malignancy because of a clot, or they got a clot because of existing malignancy? I do know clots can be related to existing malignancy. I'd talk to your doc about cancer concerns but one doctor told me that usually people are symptomatic of cancer before they clot. I know though that's not always the case. There have been a couple of people here over the years who had clots related to cancer but not many. My clots were classified as idiopathic and I don't have cancer.

So talk to your doc. Doing that sometimes helps puts anything we read or hear into context.

I've had several clots, most provoked but some not, and the chance of malignancy of any kind has never been a concern brought up by any of my doctors. I've also had blood workups by a hematologist/oncologist, who did probably the most thorough assessment of my medical history ever, and cancer was never a concern for him either. I guess I figure if it seemed a risk, he'd have caught that even if no one else.

There have been a few people come here who had cancer-related clotting, but I think all of them had a known cancer diagnosis first. My grandmother had clotting from kidney cancer, and her clots happened at the same time as her other obvious symptoms appeared.

So I think that unless you are in a high risk category for some reason or you're experiencing other odd symptoms, cancer as a cause for your clot is relatively unlikely. If you feel you have a reason to be concerned about cancer (other than just the statistics you've read), then discuss it with your doctor. Actually, what rmb said is good, even just discuss what you've read with your doctor because I think probably s/he can put it into perspective. In the meantime, I don't think it's a common enough problem that I'd let it keep me up nights worrying.

Here's a short article about the subject. http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe1507506#t=article

The title of the article is "Cancer Workup after Unprovoked Clot-Less is More"

Although there is a risk that an occult cancer could be responsible for a clotting event, it still is an uncommon cause. Also, the study that came up with that 10% figure were of older adults. Mean age was 66, which one expect higher rates of cancer due to age.

Anecdotally, when i had my PEs the ER doc seemed very concerned about enlarged lymph nodes that showed up on the CT scan in the chest area. I wasn't too concerned about because I had recently been ill with an really resp. bug, and was diagnosed with Pnuemonia along with the PEs. He told me I should get a second CT scan three months later, to make sure everything went back to normal. I never did the second scan because I was feeling so much better, and didn't want another big does of radiation if it really wasn't necessary.

As ShilosMommy mentioned, the people I know that have cancer related clotting were already diagnosed with cancer. Then again, my dad, who must have had at least on copy of FVL,( since I have two copies), had prostate cancer which metastasized to his leg bones, but never experienced a clot. So, it's not a linear thing.

Most of all, do talk to your doc about your concerns. The PE experience is anxiety inducing all by itself, without other concerns coming into play.

Take care of yourself.

Hi, sorry you're in this boat too. I was totally freaked out by that exact statistic when I had my PE. Time has lessened the anxiety, somewhat, but I try to focus on the fact that I really have no other univestigated cancer symptoms. I'm too young for a colonoscopy or mammogram yet, all my doctors agree on that since I have no other symptoms. To diagnose my PE, I was scanned from shoulders to the tops of my kidneys, had multiple ultrasounds of different areas, and a hundred different blood tests. My hematologist/oncologist is comfortable that it isn't caused by a cancer so I need to be too. He deals with cancer day in and day out so if he's not concerned, it says a lot.

If you've had a full work up and have no other symptoms that might indicate cancer, try to let go of that fear and concentrate on living. Easier said than done though. ;)