Pancreatic cancer: A model cancer for the study of the therapeutic effects of anticoagulants.

Cancer-related thromboembolic disease is a well recognized syndrome since first described by Armand Trousseau in 1865. Preventing the morbidity and mortality related to thromboembolism in these patients is becoming a priority research area with the advent of new anti-coagulants. It is only recently that randomized trials of improved quality are been undertaken to study this question. Many of these trials however are still not accounting for the heterogeneity of "cancer" in terms of anatomical site, histology, stage and treatment. This editorial review highlights why pancreatic cancer may serve as a model malignancy to study this question.