Beyond the coagulopathy phenotype in cancer-associated stroke: routine radiology report-based phenotyping and a practical diagnostic prioritization

BackgroundCancer-related ischemic stroke is commonly suspected when diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) shows multi-territory infarction with markedly elevated D-dimer. However, the prevalence and clinical relevance of non-coagulopathy phenotypes in patients with active cancer are not well defined.MethodsWe retrospectively studied consecutive ischemic stroke admissions undergoing MRI-DWI at a single center. Active cancer was defined as diagnosis or treatment within 6 months, or metastatic/recurrent disease. Infarct distribution (multi- vs. single-territory) was classified from official routine radiology reports by board-certified radiologists blinded to outcomes. We compared D-dimer across groups defined by cancer status and DWI distribution and examined predictors of multi-territory infarction within the active-cancer cohort using multivariable logistic regression.ResultsAmong patients with active cancer (n = 182), 25.3% (46/182) had multi-territory infarction and 74.7% (136/182) had single-territory infarction. D-dimer was higher in active-cancer patients with multi-territory infarction (median 6.8 μg/mL; IQR 1.3–14.2) than in active-cancer patients with single-territory infarction (median 1.2 μg/mL; IQR 0.5–3.3) and in non-cancer stroke groups (p < 0.001). Each doubling of D-dimer was independently associated with multi-territory infarction (adjusted OR 1.62; 95% CI 1.33–1.98).ConclusionsRoutine report-based phenotyping indicates that the classic coagulopathy phenotype is a strong marker but represents a minority of strokes with active cancer. When multi-territory infarction accompanies elevated D-dimer, evaluation should prioritize malignancy activity, systemic thrombosis/coagulopathy, and non-bacterial thrombotic endocarditis; otherwise, a mechanism-oriented stroke work-up should be maintained, with attention to cancer treatment– and radiation-related vascular injury.