Cancer-linked pulmonary embolisms? Catherine O’Hara’s cause of death…
Catherine O’Hara’s death at 71 despatched shock waves throughout Hollywood.
The comedic actor has been remembered by former “The Studio” co-star Seth Rogen as “hysterical, kind, intuitive, generous” and by her up to date and good friend Martin Short as “the greatest, most brilliant, kindest, sweetest angel that any of us worked with.”
Details from her death certificates have been revealed Monday by TMZ, which confirmed a pulmonary embolism as the cause of death on Jan. 30.
It also confirmed she had been receiving treatment for rectal cancer since March 2025, leaving followers and medical professionals to invest about whether or not the two have been related.
Catherine O’Hara died at 71 from a pulmonary embolism amid a battle with rectal cancer. REUTERS
While rectal cancer is different from colon cancer, the two share many similarities and are often lumped together as colorectal cancer. But therapies for each are different, according to the Mayo Clinic, as are the charges of diagnosis.
The American Cancer Society estimates that as of this 12 months, colon cancer is about twice as widespread as rectal cancer, with roughly 108,000 new colon cancer circumstances versus just under 50,000 rectal circumstances.
Overall charges of each, particularly among older adults, have declined in latest a long time thanks partly to better screenings. But for adults 50 and youthful, the quantity of diagnoses has really been climbing, rising by nearly 3% each 12 months from 2013 to 2022 and puzzling docs and cancer researchers.
O’Hara’s rectal cancer was listed as the long-term cause of death on the certificates and should have contributed to the pulmonary embolism that ended her life. Here’s what to know about the connection.
What is a pulmonary embolism?
A pulmonary embolism happens when a blood clot blocks a major artery in the lungs, according to the Society for Vascular Surgery.
Typically, the clot, also referred to as a thrombus, types some other place in the physique, often a leg or arm, before it breaks off and travels by means of the bloodstream to the lungs, the place it might probably limit oxygen consumption and forestall the coronary heart from pumping correctly.
The danger of pulmonary embolism is seven occasions larger for people with cancer. Getty Images
What is the connection between pulmonary embolism and rectal cancer?
Research revealed last 12 months in the Journal of Clinical Oncology states that a pulmonary embolism is the main cause of death in cancer sufferers. Across every kind of cancer, the danger of pulmonary embolism is seven occasions larger than those without cancer.
But lung and gastrointestinal cancers, which embody rectal cancer, face an even larger danger of pulmonary embolism.
In the early 2000s, a review of over 1 million Medicare sufferers hospitalized with cancer discovered that GI cancers have been among the top 10 with the highest fee of deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism out of 18 cancers reported.
How life-threatening is a pulmonary embolism, and the way is it handled?
Without fast emergency intervention, pulmonary embolisms are very harmful.
That said, over 90% of sufferers who’re handled for pulmonary embolisms survive, according to the MD Anderson Cancer Center, though a second pulmonary embolism is “more lethal than the first one.”
If administered in time, therapies like blood-thinners are very efficient. Other therapies relying on severity may embody surgical procedure to take away the clot, or the administration of “clot-busters” by means of an IV to interrupt it up.
Who is most in danger?
The MD Anderson Cancer Center says a number of cancer therapies can really result in blood clots, including chemotherapy and hormone therapy. “Patients who are older, undergo surgery, are immobile, obese or who have central venous catheters are at an increased risk of developing these clots.”
Other danger components embody a historical past of blood clots or clotting issues, coronary heart disease, extreme circumstances of COVID-19, prolonged intervals of inactivity from mattress relaxation or lengthy journeys in a automotive or airplane, some hormonal contraception drugs, smoking and sometimes issues from being pregnant or obesity.
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