Breast Cancer and Venous Disease: A Retrospective Cohort Study

BackgroundBreast cancer (BC) and chronic venous disease (CVD) are in some way related to hormonal effects, and often the clinical manifestations of CVD intersect with the clinical course of BC. This article describes the correlations between these clinical conditions.MethodsA total of 1138 female patients with BC were retrospectively reviewed in a 5-year period to obtain clinical information about the frequency and characteristics of contemporary CVD and the relative correlations with estrogen and progesterone receptor status.ResultsThe presence of BC was associated with concomitant CVD clinical manifestations in patients with positive estrogen receptor status, whereas no association was found in patients with negative estrogen receptor status. The presence of negative estrogen receptor status associated with positive progesterone receptor status seemed to be even protective against CVD. Patients with more severe manifestations of CVD had positive estrogen receptor status.ConclusionsBC and CVD seem to be strongly associated. Positive estrogen receptor status may predispose to a more severe clinical course of venous disease when it occurs in patients with BC.