• Lei Chen, Qiang Chen, Minggao Zhu, and Zhixiang Zhuang.
• Department of Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, P.R. China.
• J Coll Physicians Surg Pak. 2021 Mar 1; 31 (3): 294-297.

ObjectiveTo determine the effect and safety of sequential treatment with the low-molecular-weight heparin dalteparin and the direct oral anticoagulants rivaroxaban in patients with cancer- associated venous thromboembolism (VTE).Study DesignObservational study.Place And Duration Of StudyDepartment of Oncology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, between January 2017 and September 2019.MethodologyPatients with active cancer, diagnosed with VTE and who received sequential treatment with dalteparin and rivaroxaban, were retrospectively reviewed. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify risk factors associated with VTE recurrence.ResultsNinety-nine patients with active cancer were enrolled in the study. The median delteparin treatment time was nine days (5-20 days), and 2.8 months (1-6 months) for rivaroxaban. Sixty (60.6%) patients had eliminated VTE, and 39 (39.4%) had persistent VTE, but with relieved symptoms. No major bleeding was observed. Eleven (11.1%) patients had minor bleeding, including melena (5.1%), hematuria (3.0%), vaginal bleeding (1.0%), gingival bleeding (1.0%), and subcutaneous hemorrhage (1.0%). During the 6 months follow-up period, one (1.0%) developed pulmonary embolism, and seven (7.1%) experienced recurrent VTE. Univariate logistic regression analysis showed that bleeding occurrence and anticoagulant treatment duration were the two significant factors affecting VTE recurrence (p<0.05).ConclusionMaintenance of rivaroxaban after initial dalteparin treatment could effectively reduce the risk of VTE recurrence and was well tolerated by patients with cancer-associated VTE. However, in the clinical practice, the treatment duration is often insufficient, so it is essential to follow-up these patients to ensure sufficient treatment time. Key Words: Venous thromboembolism, Low-molecular-weight heparins, Directly oral anticoagulants, Cancer.

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