Vitamin K antagonists in anticoagulant therapy of patients with cancer

2012 ◽  
Vol 122 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 60-64
Author(s):  
Tomasz Pasierski
Hematology ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 (1) ◽  
pp. 312-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnes Y.Y. Lee

Abstract Robust evidence remains scarce in guiding best practice in the prevention and treatment of venous thromboembolism in patients living with cancer. Recommendations from major consensus guidelines are largely based on extrapolated data from trials performed mostly in noncancer patients, observational studies and registries, studies using surrogate outcomes, and underpowered randomized controlled trials. Nonetheless, a personalized approach based on individual risk assessment is uniformly recommended for inpatient and outpatient thromboprophylaxis and there is consensus that anticoagulant prophylaxis is warranted in selected patients with a high risk of thrombosis. Prediction tools for estimating the risk of thrombosis in the hospital setting have not been validated, but the use of prophylaxis in the ambulatory setting in those with a high Khorana score is under active investigation. Symptomatic and incidental thrombosis should be treated with anticoagulant therapy, but little is known about the optimal duration. Pharmacologic options for prophylaxis and treatment are still restricted to unfractionated heparin, low molecular weight heparin, and vitamin K antagonists because there is currently insufficient evidence to support the use of target-specific, non-vitamin K-antagonist oral anticoagulants. Although these agents offer practical advantages over traditional anticoagulants, potential drug interaction with chemotherapeutic agents, gastrointestinal problems, hepatic and renal impairment, and the lack of rapid reversal agents are important limitations that may reduce the efficacy and safety of these drugs in patients with active cancer. Clinicians and patients are encouraged to participate in clinical trials to advance the care of patients with cancer-associated thrombosis.


ESC CardioMed ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 2790-2794
Author(s):  
Cihan Ay ◽  
Florian Posch

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a frequent complication in patients with cancer. Clinicians have to maintain a high index of suspicion to reduce the large proportion of PEs that remain undiagnosed in the cancer population. Thrombolysis is not a standard treatment for haemodynamically unstable patients with cancer-associated PE because the risk of haemorrhage can be excessive. Anticoagulation with a low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) for at least 6 months is the current standard of care for the treatment of cancer-associated PE, while vitamin K antagonists are a reasonable second choice for patients with contraindications against LMWH or a strong preference towards an oral agent. Although an indirect network meta-analysis suggests that non-vitamin K-dependent oral anticoagulants may be comparably efficacious and safe as LMWH for treating PE in cancer patients, these agents cannot be recommended as a standard first-line treatment at this time because a head-to-head comparison to the standard of care has not yet been reported. Anticoagulation beyond 6 months is an emerging concept; however, the patient population that may benefit from this intervention still needs to be defined. Guidance statements facilitate the management of challenging patients with brain metastases, unsuspected PE, thrombocytopenia, and recurrent PE.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
A Pardo Sanz ◽  
L M Rincon ◽  
G De Lara ◽  
A Tamayo ◽  
L C Belarte ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Balance between embolic and bleeding risk is challenging in patients with cancer. There is a lack of specific recommendations for the use of antithrombotic therapy in oncologic patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) and vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) within patients with breast cancer. We also compared the embolic and bleeding risk, the preventive management and the incidence of events between patients with and without cancer. Methods It is an ambispective observational multicentric study that analysed patients with non-valvular AF treated in Oncology and Cardiology Departments in Spain in the period 2011–2018. A total of 1237 female patients with AF were enrolled: 637 with breast cancer and 599 without cancer. The incidence of thromboembolic and major bleeding events according to the antithrombotic strategy with VKAs or DOACs was evaluated in the cohort of 637 patients with cancer. Analysis were conducted using SPSS software V.22.0 and R V.3.5.1, with a two-tailed significance value of 0.05. Results Mean follow-up was 3.1 years. Both groups were similar in age, CHA2DS2-VASc and HASB-LED scores. There was no evidence that the incidence of ischemic stroke/systemic embolism differed between patients with cancer treated with AVK and DOAC after CHA2DS2-VASc adjustment: HR 0.91 (95% CI, 0.42–1.99). In addition, no significant differences in the incidence of major bleeding events were found between DOACs and VKA after adjustment for HAS-BLED score: HR 1.53 (95% CI, 0.93–2.53) (Figure 3). Gastrointestinal bleeding was the main source of haemorrhages in both groups (45% of bleedings among patients treated with DOACs and, 37% in VKAs group). Metastatic disease or active chemotherapy were studied as potential covariates but none of them posed any relevant change in the result. Kaplan-Meier analysis Conclusions Cancer patients treated with DOACs did not differ versus those treated with VKAs with regards to stroke or systemic embolism in a model adjusted for CHA2DS2-VASc. Neither significant differences were found for bleeding events in a model adjusted for baseline HASBLED.


2009 ◽  
Vol 101 (03) ◽  
pp. 594-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Brocal ◽  
Javier Lucas ◽  
José Verdú ◽  
Fabián Tarín ◽  
Pascual Marco

Blood ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 108 (11) ◽  
pp. 882-882
Author(s):  
Berardino Pollio ◽  
Giuseppe A. Demarie ◽  
Patrizia Ocello ◽  
Grazia Delios ◽  
Marco Tucciarone ◽  
...  

Abstract The perioperative management of oral anticoagulant therapy (OAT) often arouses controversy between surgeons and internists. In geriatric patients, cataract surgery for those who are taking vitamin K antagonists is a common clinical procedure. Phacoemulsification requires a 3 mm incision involving a tissue devoid of blood vessels. This study reports the experience of an Italian Anticoagulation Management Service (AMS) with 135 anticoagulated patients on long-term anticoagulant therapy who underwent phacoemulsification performed by the same ophthalmologist team from January 2001 to December 2005. The patients received either topical (30%) or peribulbar (70%) anaesthesia. Data were collected by physicians with specialized software, but the dosage of oral anticoagulant was manual. Two oral vitamin K antagonisists are available in Italy: acenocumarol and warfarin. We prepared all patients in accordance with the following standardized protocol : the scheduled dose was always omitted the day before surgery an INR measurement was provided 3–5 days before the invasive procedure; if the patient’s INR was below 3, we simply omitted the scheduled dose of the day before cataract surgery if the patient’s INR was above 3, we withheld two or more scheduled doses to allow the INR to fall to 2.5 or less 1 hour before cataract surgery, INR was measured if the patient’s INR was below 2.5, phacoemulsification was performed Results: This standardized procedural protocol allowed the surgeon to carry out phacoemulsification with INR always below 2.5. We observed only one peribulbar bleeding (0.7%) during peribulbar anaesthesia before the corneal incision was made. No thromboembolic complications were registered during three months of follow up. We compared our results with the data of an earlier cohort of 7014 conventional patients who underwent this eye surgery in the same ophthalmologic institute. We did not observe statistical differences between the two groups with regard to hemorragic complications. Conclusions: The risk of thromboembolism when antithrombotic therapy is interrupted is a well-grounded concern, particularly for patients with mechanical heart valves. Low molecular weight heparin bridging is a valid but more complicated alternative. Our study demonstrates the feasibility and safety of this simple standardized protocol which avoids OAT interruption. Therefore, we conclude that in patients receiving OAT, it is not necessary for the anticoagulant effect to wear off before cataract surgery is performed.


Author(s):  
Robert Klamroth ◽  
Marianne Sinn ◽  
Christiane Pollich ◽  
Sven Bischoff ◽  
Anja Lohneis ◽  
...  

Introduction: Cancer-associated venous thrombosis (CAT) is a common and serious complication of active malignancies, increasing in frequency during systemic treatment and radiotherapy. Due to a high risk of recurrence and bleeding, the administration of anticoagulants for initial treatment and secondary prevention of CAT is challenging. We conducted a prospective registry study of patients with acute CAT to evaluate the way treatment is given to these patients in routine practice. Methods: From May 2015 to May 2017, all consecutive patients with acute venous thromboembolism (VTE) admitted to specialty or emergency departments of the participating hospitals in Berlin, Germany, were entered in the registry. Patients with cancer underwent extensive baseline evaluation including the type and location of thrombosis and use of anticoagulant therapy. Follow-up assessments were made at discharge and by telephone interviews at 3 and 6 months. Results: A total of 382 patients with acute CAT were enrolled in the study, representing 24.5% of all patients with thrombosis. 70.4% of CAT patients had deep vein thromboses (DVT), 48.2% had pulmonary embolism (PE), and 18.6% had concurrent PE and DVT. A significant proportion of VTE (27%) were asymptomatic and were diagnosed only incidentally. At baseline, 97.9% of the patients received anticoagulant therapy, predominantly with low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) (n=334, 87.4%). Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) were given to 5.8% of patients, and vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) were rarely used (<2% of patients). Changes in the prescription of antithrombotic agents were seen at discharge from hospital and during follow-up. Overall, the use of LMWH declined during follow-up, while the proportion of patients treated with DOACs increased to 32.4% at 6 months. At baseline, the most frequently used LMWH were enoxaparin and nadroparin, but many patients were switched to once daily tinzaparin prior to discharge. Initially and after discharge the majority of patients were treated by oncologists. Overall, 263 (68.8%) and 222 (58,1%) patients were still alive and could be contacted at 3 and 6 months of follow-up, respectively. Of these, 84.0% and 71.6% were still on anticoagulant therapy (58.6% and 36.5% on LMWH). Conclusion: In accordance with the guidelines, the majority of CAT patients received anticoagulation therapy for the recommended minimum duration of 3-6 months. LMWH remained the preferred option throughout the study, demonstrating good patient adherence. In deviation from guideline recommendations and available study results during the study period, more than a quarter of CAT patients were treated with DOACs. Only recently, DOACs have been established as another option for anticoagulation in CAT patients.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Ludovico Alisi ◽  
Clodomiro Cafolla ◽  
Alessandra Gentili ◽  
Sara Tartaglione ◽  
Roberta Curini ◽  
...  

Objectives. Recent studies have suggested that vitamin K may exert significant effects on the central nervous system. The present study investigates the relationship between vitamin K plasmatic levels and cognitive functions in elderly patients on oral anticoagulant therapy (OAT). Design. At the Thrombosis Centre of Haematology, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 85 patients on OAT, aged between 75 and 92, were randomly enrolled in the study. Patients were on OAT with vitamin K antagonists (VKAs). Vitamin K1 concentrations were determined using standardized High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Cognitive functions were assessed using the Milan Overall Dementia Assessment (MODA). Results. MODA scores are positively correlated to vitamin K1 concentration. Patients with vitamin K1 below 0.100 μg/L and between 0.100 and 0.400 μg/L showed a mean MODA score of 79 ± 5 and 82 ± 3, respectively. Patients with vitamin K1 above 0.400 μg/L had a significantly greater MODA score (89 ± 1). After binning the data into bicentiles, MODA scores are shown to be linearly dependent on vitamin K1 concentrations (p<0.001). Even long-term OAT (>10 years) does not affect MODA scores. Education seems to exert a greater role on the cognitive status in comparison with aging. Conclusions. The study shows a positive association between vitamin K1 concentration and cognitive status in elderly patients (≥75 years) on OAT. The relationship between vitamin K1 concentration and MODA scores is described by a linear model. Cognitive status is not influenced by the duration of OAT but by the years of education.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document