Abstract W P205: Potential Hematological Biomarkers of Stroke in Cancer Patients

Introduction: Cancer patients can develop hypercoagulability, leading to stroke. The pathophysiology of cancer-mediated hypercoagulability, however, is poorly understood and biomarkers associated with stroke in cancer patients are uncertain. Methods: We performed a pilot cross-sectional study at a tertiary-care cancer center to evaluate potential hematological biomarkers of stroke in cancer patients. From October 2013 through May 2014, we prospectively identified 15 inpatients with active systemic cancer and acute ischemic stroke and 15 inpatients with active systemic cancer and no stroke. Using collected plasma, we compared six potential biomarkers of stroke, selected in advance based on expert opinion and prior data, which included markers of coagulation (thrombin-antithrombin complex and D-dimer), platelet function (P-selectin), and endothelial activation state (sICAM-1, vICAM-1, and thrombomodulin). We used the Wilcoxon rank-sum test to compare biomarker levels between groups. Results: Each group comp...