Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

Cancer Consultants, an oncology resource center, is reporting that prophylactic use of nadroparin, a low-molecular-weight heparin, significantly reduces the incidence of thromboembolic events in patients who have cancer and are undergoing chemotherapy. This finding was presented this week by Italian researchers with the PROTECHT Study, at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hemotology.

Thromboembolism is a blood clot in the blood vessel that breaks loose and is carried by the blood stream to plug another vessel. The clot may plug a vessel in the lungs, causing pulmonary embolism; brain, causing a stroke; gastrointestinal track, kidneys or leg. Thromboembolism is a common complication of cancer and cancer treatments, and is usually treated with blood thinners, such as heparin.

Though a relatively new therapy for the prevention of thromboembolism, low-molecular-weight heparins, such as nadroparin, are as effective as high-molecular-weight heparins. One benefit to low-molecular-weight heparins is that treatment can be started and completed in an outpatient setting, as opposed to high-molecular-weight treatments, which require in-hospital monitoring.

The study involved 1,166 patients with metastatic cancer receiving chemotherapy for cancers involving the lungs, breasts, head and neck, stomach, colon, rectum and pancreas. The incidence of blood clots in patients who received nadroparin was 2.1 percent compared to 3.9 in patients who received a placebo. Higher rates of thrombembolism was present in patients with lung and pancreatic caners. The study also showed a slight (0.7 percent) incidence of major bleeding in patients who received nadroparin compared to 0 percent in the placebo group.

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