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Cancer patients are at increased risk for thrombosis and have shortened survival. Whether anticoagulants improve survival in these patients is controversial. Investigators have now conducted two meta-analyses to evaluate the effect of prophylactic low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) on cancer-patient survival and the efficacy of the new oral anticoagulants (NOACs) in patients with cancer-associated acute venous thromboembolism (VTE).
Sanford and colleagues analyzed nine studies encompassing 5987 patients with stage III or IV solid cancers and without VTE who received LMWH or placebo. LMWH had no effect on mortality. However, LMWH recipients had fewer thrombotic events (odds ratio, 0.56; 95% confidence interval, 0.40–0.81), without a signific…