Anticoagulants may improve overall survival in men receiving docetaxel for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), a study found.
A team led by Emmanuel S. Antonarakis, MD, of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, analyzed data from 247 patients with mCRPC who received first-line docetaxel chemotherapy. Of these, 29 (11.7%) received therapeutic anticoagulation—either low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) or warfarin—for the treatment of venous thromboembolism.
The median survival was 20.9 months in the anticoagulation group compared with 17.1 months in the controls, a significant difference in survival, according to a paper published online ahead of print in Clinical Genitourinary Cancer. After adjusting for multiple potential confounders, anticoagulant use was associated with a significant 51% decreased risk of death.
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When the researchers considered each anticoagulant separately, they found that LMWH use was associated with a significant 52% decreased risk of death, but warfarin use had no effect on survival.
