The study which closed at the end of September 2023 is called HIDDEN2: Hospital deep vein thrombosis detection study in cancer patients receiving palliative care, and looked at patients who were admitted acutely to hospital.
Over a one year period more than 150 of the 201 patients admitted to the study were recruited from the Velindre Cancer Centre.
Patients had their upper legs scanned for DVT at the time of their admission to hospital. This scan and other routine data collected about their condition and medications was used to inform the research.
The outcomes from the study are still being collated but they will directly impact and inform patient care.
Professor Nikki Pease, Consultant in Palliative Medicine said:
“We know that approximately 1 in 7 patients who have cancer will be affected by deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or other occurrence of blood clots. Cancer and the treatment of cancer, in the form of chemotherapy, immunotherapy and hormone treatments all increase the risk of blood clots.
Alongside that, we also know that acute illness whereby patients need hospital admission also increases the risk of blood clots. This study looked to find out how many cancer patients admitted to hospital have a leg DVT.
I would like to thank every patient who said yes when they were asked about the trial. Without the willingness of Velindre patients to give up their time to take part, the trial would not have reached the recruitment target.
“Our patients have helped us take this important research forward, making a difference to the way we provide palliative and supportive care for our patients in the future.”
Although caring for patients with a life limiting illness has happened since the advent of time it was only in 1987 that the UK became the first country in the world to make palliative medicine a subspecialty. Palliative medicine is a young specialty compared to cancer care and research involving patients with a life limiting illness was often not undertaken. In recent times this has changed and there is increasing research in palliative care with the aim of informing best evidence based clinical practice.
Palliative care research places the patient perspective and experience at the centre of research enquiry. It is committed to a co-produced, multi-perspective delivery of evidence to impact on care in the clinic - and across the patient’s treatment journey.
Velindre University NHS Trust works closely with the Marie Curie Research Centre at Cardiff University to provide a patient-focused evidence base on how they navigate their care, make decisions on particular types of treatment (with that trade off in mind), and how they assess the value of the interventions received using their own, unique perspective.
The work of the Centre has resulted in rapid practice changes across these areas as well as legislative and policy improvements at UK level and internationally to support better care for the person affected and those close to them.
HIDDEN2 is sponsored and coordinated by Aneurin Bevan University Health Board and coordinated by the Centre for Trials Research (CTR) at Cardiff University.
The research was funded by Health and Care Research Wales from their Research for Patient and Public Benefit fund. The research for Patient and Public Benefit funding programme aims to support research that increases the effectiveness of NHS services and has a direct path to patient benefit.