European journal of haematology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Extending venous thromboembolism secondary prevention with apixaban in cancer patients: The EVE trial.
Cancer-associated venous thromboembolism (VTE) carries a high rate of recurrence and death. Guidelines recommend continued anticoagulation therapy as long as active cancer persists. Apixaban 2.5 mg twice daily is the FDA-approved dose for secondary prevention regardless of VTE causation. Whether this apixaban dose is appropriate for secondary VTE prevention in cancer patients is not clear. The rationale and design of this investigator initiated phase III, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, trial assessing apixaban 2.5 mg vs 5 mg twice daily for 12 months for the secondary VTE prevention in cancer patients (n = 370) who have completed 6 months (but no more than 12 months) of anticoagulation is provided (NCT03080883). ⋯ We anticipate these trial results to provide evidence supporting low-dose apixaban as a safe agent for secondary prevention of cancer-associated VTE for patients who have already completed 6-12 months of anticoagulation.