Deep venous thrombosis (DVT) is a common surgical complication in cancer patients and
evidence that inflammation plays a role in the occurrence of DVT is increasing. We
studied a population of cancer patients with abdominal malignancies with the aim of
investigating whether the levels of circulating inflammatory cytokines were
associated with postoperative DVT, and to determine the levels in DVT diagnoses. The
serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukins (IL)-6 and IL-10, nuclear
transcription factor-κB (NF-κB) and E-selectin (E-Sel) were determined in 120
individuals, who were divided into 3 groups: healthy controls, patients with and
patients without DVT after surgery for an abdominal malignancy. Data were analyzed by
ANOVA, Dunnet's T3 test, chi-square test, and univariate and multivariate logistic
regression as needed. The CRP, IL-6, NF-κB, and E-Sel levels in patients with DVT
were significantly higher than those in the other groups (P<0.05). The IL-10 level
was higher in patients with DVT than in controls but lower than in patients without
DVT. Univariate analysis revealed that CRP, IL-6, NF-κB, and E-Sel were statistically
associated with the risk of DVT (OR=1.98, P=0.002; OR=1.17, P=0.000; OR=1.03,
P=0.042; and OR=1.38, P=0.003; respectively), whereas IL-10 had a protective effect
(OR=0.94, P=0.011). Multivariate analysis showed that E-Sel was an independent risk
factor (OR=1.41, P=0.000). Thus, this study indicated that an increased serum level
of E-Sel was associated with increased DVT risk in postoperative patients with
abdominal malignancy, indicating that E-Sel may be a useful predictor of diagnosis of
DVT.