The association between thrombosis and cancer is well known and the first description of
venous thrombosis as a complication of malignant disease by Trousseau dates back to
1865. However, less well known is that the relation between clotting activation and the
development of metastases was also postulated very early by Billroth, in 1878, who
described cancer cells within a thrombus and interpreted his finding as evidence of the
spread of tumor cells by thromboemboli. Along these lines, in the last 30 years basic …