Review of efficacy and safety of the new oral anticoagulants (NOACS) in the treatment of venous thromboembolism in gastrointestinal (GI) oncology patients.

Abstract

761 Background: The occurrence of venous thrombosis (VTE) has been reported to increase the likelihood of death for cancer patients by 2- to 6-fold. Additionally, cancer patients have both a higher rate of VTE recurrence during oral anticoagulant therapy with warfarin and a higher anticoagulation-associated hemorrhagic risk as compared with non-cancer patients. New oral anticoagulants (NOACs) have administration and monitoring advantages treatment options for patients, however, there is limited data on the use of NOACs for cancer patients. Methods: We performed a single-institution retrospective review of electronic medical records of patients with GI cancer who received rivaroxaban with an active VTE diagnosis. Data collected included patient demographics, diagnosis, previous and active chemotherapy, previous history of VTE, and clinical outcomes. Results: Thirty-two patients were identified, with 28 patients concurrently treated with chemotherapy. Rivaroxaban was given to treat DVT = 23 patient and PE = 9 patients with average length of therapy 181 days. Forty-one percent of patients started on rivaroxaban, while 25% received enoxaparin, and 22% received warfarin prior to rivaroxaban. Overall, 13/32 (41%) patients experienced a bleeding episode; 7 patients had their dose held and 6 patients were noted to have minor bleeding. Conclusions: In our retrospective study, rivaroxaban did show efficacy in secondary prophylaxis for VTE in patients with active cancer. However our results revealed a rather high rate of bleeds in patients being treated with chemotherapy and rivaroxaban as compared to previous studies. [Table: see text]