New anticoagulants in the treatment of patients with cancer-associated venous thromboembolism.

Abstract

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) represents a common source of morbidity and mortality among patients with malignant disease. In this specific setting, the treatment of VTE is challenging as cancer patients display a high tendency to develop recurrent VTE, as well as anticoagulant-related bleeding complications. Low-molecular-weight heparins have been demonstrated to be more effective in the long-term prevention of recurrent VTE in cancer patients compared with conventional treatment with vitamin K antagonists. A limitation of this therapeutic approach includes the long-term requirement of daily subcutaneous injections, which may be burdensome to patients. Over the past decade, several novel oral anticoagulants have emerged, which can be administered in fixed doses without the need for monitoring. Clinical trials evaluating these agents for treatment in the general VTE population yielded promising results. This review summarizes the current management of cancer-associated VTE, overviews the trials that investigated the novel anticoagulant drugs for the treatment of acute VTE and discusses the potential of these novel agents for use in cancer patients.

• Authors: Paul L den Exter, Judith Kooiman, Tom van der Hulle, Menno V Huisman
• Journal: Best practice & research. Clinical haematology (Best Pract Res Clin Haematol) Vol. 26 Issue 2 Pg. 163-9 (Jun 2013) ISSN: 1532-1924 [Electronic] Netherlands
• PMID: 23953904 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)
• Copyright: © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Anticoagulants
• Benzimidazoles
• Heparin, Low-Molecular-Weight
• Morpholines
• Pyrazoles
• Pyridones
• Thiophenes
• beta-Alanine
• apixaban
• Warfarin
• Rivaroxaban
• Dabigatran

Topics

• Administration, Oral
• Anticoagulants (therapeutic use)
• Benzimidazoles (therapeutic use)
• Dabigatran
• Drug Administration Schedule
• Heparin, Low-Molecular-Weight (therapeutic use)
• Humans
• Morpholines (therapeutic use)
• Neoplasms (complications, drug therapy, pathology)
• Pyrazoles (therapeutic use)
• Pyridones (therapeutic use)
• Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
• Rivaroxaban
• Thiophenes (therapeutic use)
• Treatment Outcome
• Venous Thromboembolism (complications, drug therapy, pathology)
• Warfarin (therapeutic use)
• beta-Alanine (analogs & derivatives, therapeutic use)