Blood Thinners Have Role in Cancer Care to Prevent Embolism

Newswise — Analysis of anticoagulants in patients with malignant cancer shows that further study is needed to establish an adjuvant, or combined, treatment protocol. Cancer patients are at a high risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE), and cancer-related thromboembolic events have emerged as the second-leading cause of death in patients undergoing chemotherapy.?

Researchers working with Sbarro Health Research Organization (SHRO) under the leadership of Professor Antonio Giordano, M.D., Ph.D., recently analyzed the relationship between cancer, inflammation, and vascular thrombotic diseases. This review examined all of the available experimental data about the anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects of the most commonly used anticoagulant therapies in patients with malignancy. The authors conclude that the pleiotropic effects of anticoagulants are of significant interest and should be considered alongside drug–drug interactions and the benefit/risk balance of drugs.

The paper, “Anti-Inflammatory and Anticancer Effects of Anticoagulant Therapy in Patients with Malignancy,” was recently published in the journal?Life.

“Dedicated and continuous efforts should be made to coordinate medical education and training and to promote clinical research in cardio-oncology,” says Giordano, President of SHRO. “Because cardio-oncology care is a growing field, there is a need for proper fellowship programs to train cardiologists in cancer-cardiovascular care”

“Before starting the anticoagulation therapy, a careful cardio-oncologic evaluation is required,” says co-author Professor Vincenzo Russo, M.D., Ph.D., University of Campania, “as patients with gastrointestinal and genitourinary malignancy showed an increased risk of major bleeding.?

A patient-centered approach based on the clinical characteristics and biomarker evaluation may help clinicians to choose the optimal anticoagulation strategy in patients with malignancy.”