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R. Wolfe



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    O27 - Clinical Trials and Practice (ID 142)

    • Event: WCLC 2013
    • Type: Oral Abstract Session
    • Track: Other Topics
    • Presentations: 1
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      O27.01 - Thromboembolism in lung cancer - an area of urgent unmet need (ID 2096)

      16:15 - 16:25  |  Author(s): R. Wolfe

      • Abstract
      • Presentation
      • Slides

      Background
      Current management of lung cancer (LC) (chemotherapy - CHT, radiotherapy – RT, and biological therapies) occurs predominantly in the ambulatory care (AC) setting. Post-surgery hospital admission is becoming progressively shorter due to advances in technique and greater reliance on home recovery.[1,2]As such, LC management occurs outside the scope of current thromboprophylaxis (TP) guidelines.[2-8] Recommendations for TP strategies in these high thromboembolism (TE) risk patients are lacking.[9] The aim of this study was to profile TE incidence in LC patients receiving anti-cancer therapy, exploring patient-, disease- and treatment-related risk factors associated with higher thrombotic rates. This could identify high-risk populations, disease features and/or treatment periods that warrant strong recommendations for targeted preventative strategies to reduce LC-associated TE, and in particular consideration of pharmacological-TP (P-TP).

      Methods
      Retrospective review of LC patients referred to Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, a tertiary dedicated cancer centre, between 01/07/11 - 30/06/12 for anti-cancer therapy. Data were collected from medical, pharmacy, pathology and diagnostic imaging electronic records. Follow up was defined as time from study entry (referral date) to first occurring event; TE, death, loss to follow-up or study end. Hazard ratios were calculated using Cox proportional hazards model.

      Results
      222 patients were followed for a median 10 months from time of first hospital registration. The cohort was predominantly newly diagnosed (77%), with advanced disease (71%), NSCLC (92%). Among NSCLC adenocarcinoma was the predominant histological subtype (77%). 30% of patients received multiple lines of therapy within the study period; 49% received CHT (alone or combination chemoradiotherapy, CRT), 73% RT (alone or CRT), 19% biologic therapy and 19% surgical intervention. 10.8% of patients had radiologically confirmed TE, giving an incidence rate of 131 events per 1000 person-years (95%CI 87-195). 83% (20/24) of events occurred in the AC setting; 71% symptomatic, 29% asymptomatic. 16 events were pulmonary embolism (PE) (5 fatal), 4 deep vein thrombosis (DVT), 1 combination DVT/PE, 1 atrial and 2 arterial thrombosis. TE occurred frequently in both NSCLC and SCLC (10.8% and 10.5% respectively), and more frequently among patients with adenocarcinoma compared to squamous cell histology (14.7% and 5.3% respectively). Presence of more advanced or metastatic disease, prior history of TE and comorbidity score>2 were associated with higher rates of TE. More than a third (38%) of TE events occurred during the CHT period, 13% post-surgery, 8% during RT and biologic therapy respectively. CHT demonstrated more than five-fold increased TE risk compared to no CHT (HR 5.7 95% CI 2.2-14.8) with a similar finding for RT (HR 5.2 95%CI 2.0-13.2). Importantly, P-TP was not routinely or systematically prescribed for ambulant LC patients during any treatment phase, at this institution.

      Conclusion
      LC patients are at high risk of preventable and potentially life-threatening thrombotic events. TE events occur frequently in the AC setting and consideration of P-TP is warranted, but not used routinely due to a lack of high quality data. There is a demand for appropriate risk-stratification and directed preventative strategies. Prospective data and the development of dynamic risk profiles which can direct clinical practice are needed.

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