VPB0941 - The Role of Selectins in Development of Acute Pulmonary Embolism in Cancer Patients.

Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE), which includes deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), is the third leading cause of cardiovascular death. Cancer represents and added risk of adverse outcomes in PE patients. Adhesion molecules such as selectins have been investigated in several studies of VTE patients. However, their causative role in thrombosis and cancer remains unclear.

Aims: We sought to quantify the levels of P-Selectin, E-Selectin and L-Selectin in a patient cohort, comprised of acute PE, to determine their relevance on pathophysiology of VTE.

Methods: Whole blood samples were drawn from patients within 24 hours of confirmed diagnosis of acute PE under an Institutional Review Board approved protocol. The samples were tested for P-Selectin, E-Selectin and L-Selectin utilizing commercially available ELISA assays. The distribution of co-morbidities in PE patients, including demographic information, collected through the review of patient electronic medical records. Circulating levels of each biomarker were compared according to cancer diagnosis. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: Table 1 depicts the demographic information and distribution of co-morbidities in acute PE patients. We did not observe any difference in the levels of P-Selectin and E-Selectin in comparison to cancer vs. non cancer status (p > 0.05). The levels of L-Selectin were significantly lower in cancer patients compared to non-cancer patients (1313.78 ± 661.537 vs 1529.06 ±539.72, p: 0.01425).

Conclusion(s): Our results have shown that L-selectin levels in acute PE patients significantly differ in patients with cancer vs. non cancer. The L-Selectin and E-selectin levels in cancer subgroups while not significantly different showed a trend towards decreased values. Additional data including larger number of patients may provide definitive data on these biomarkers and their role in cancer.