Chemotherapy regimen is associated with venous thromboembolism risk in patients with urothelial tract cancer

A real-world pharmacovigilance study of FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) for gemcitabine

BACKGROUND

Gemcitabine is widely used in the treatment of various cancers. This study aims to evaluate gemcitabine-associated adverse events (AEs) using the Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

We analyzed data spanning from January 2004 to June 2023. Employing reporting odds ratio (ROR) and Bayesian confidence propagation neural network (BCPNN) algorithms, we identified AEs with positive signals in patients administered gemcitabine.

RESULTS

Out of 16,623,939 reports, 23,645 involved gemcitabine as the 'primary suspected (PS)' resulting in 74,306 AEs. Consistent with the reports in the specification and clinical trials, thrombocytopenia, pyrexia, neutropenia, and anemia were the most common AEs. Notably, our study identified some unexpected AEs such as abdominal pain, pleural effusion, ascites, and gastrointestinal hemorrhage, among others. The most significant SOC was 'Blood and lymphatic system disorders'. The median onset time for gemcitabine-related AEs was 24 days (interquartile range [IQR] 6-82 days), with most cases occurring within the initial 30 days following gemcitabine administration.

CONCLUSION

Gemcitabine is associated with a broad spectrum of AEs affecting multiple organ systems, with a notable incidence of hospitalization. The study highlights both expected and unexpected AEs, which could enhance future clinical applications and safety of gemcitabine.

Ambulatory cancer patients: who should definitely receive antithrombotic prophylaxis and who should never receive

Up to 15-20% of cancer patients experience one or more episodes of venous thromboembolism during cancer disease. Approximately 80% of all cancer-associated venous thromboembolic events occur in non-hospitalized patients. Routine thromboprophylaxis for outpatients with cancer who start new anticancer treatment is currently not recommended by the international guidelines due to the high heterogeneity of these patients in terms of VTE or bleeding risks, the difficulties in selecting patients at high risk, and the uncertainty of duration of prophylaxis. Although the international guidelines endorsed the Khorana score for estimating the thrombotic risk in ambulatory cancer patients, the discriminatory performance of this score is not completely convincing and varies according to the cancer type. Consequently, a minority of ambulatory patients with cancer receive an accurate screening for primary prophylaxis of VTE. The aim of this review is to provide support to physicians in identifying those ambulatory patients with cancer for whom thromboprophylaxis should be prescribed and those that should not be candidate to thromboprophylaxis. In absence of high bleeding risk, primary thromboprophylaxis should be recommended in patients with pancreatic cancer and, probably, in patients with lung cancer harboring ALK/ROS1 translocations. Patients with upper gastrointestinal cancers are at high risk of VTE, but a careful assessment of bleeding risk should be made before deciding on antithrombotic prophylaxis. Primary prevention of VTE is not recommended in cancer patients at increased risk of bleeding as patients with brain cancer, with moderate-to-severe thrombocytopenia or severe renal impairment.

Aggressive lymphoma subtype is a risk factor for venous thrombosis. Development of lymphoma - specific venous thrombosis prediction models

Venous thromboembolic events (VTE) are a frequent complication of lymphoma. We conducted a retrospective analysis to compare VTE risk in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and follicular lymphoma (FL). Subjects were randomly assigned to training and validation sets to identify risk factors of VTE and evaluate risk model performance, including the Khorana score. A group of 790 patients were diagnosed from 2002 to 2014 (DLBCL = 542, FL = 248). Median follow- up was 49 months. We observed 106 VTE, with higher incidence in DLBCL (5-year cumulative incidence = 16.3% vs 3.8% in FL patients). Five-year OS for patients with VTE was 51.4% vs 73.1% in patients without VTE (P < .001). Baseline VTE risk factors identified in the training cohort included lymphoma subtype, previous VTE, ECOG performance status ≥2, decreased albumin, increased calcium, elevated WBC, absolute lymphocyte count or monocyte count, and presence of bulky disease. Addition of new variables to the Khorana score improved its performance measured by Akaike information criterion and Concordance index. A new risk model including lymphoma subtype, albumin, WBC count, and bulky disease was validated in time-based ROC analyses. These findings were confirmed in the validation cohort. Lymphoma subtypes have different VTE risk. The effect of lymphoma subtype was independent from disease burden and the use of systemic therapy. The Khorana risk-score was validated in time to event analyses, and a more robust lymphoma-specific VTE risk score is proposed. These findings suggest lymphoma patients with highest VTE risk can be identified with baseline parameters.

Phlegmasia cerulea dolens in a patient treated with carboplatin

Phlegmasia cerulea dolens (PCD) is a rare, fulminant, potentially lethal and often debilitating presentation of deep venous thrombosis (DVT). Mortality and amputations rates are high. We present a rare case of bilateral PCD in the lower extremities. A 67-year-old woman presented with newly diagnosed squamous cell cancer of unknown primary origin with lymph node metastases to the neck. The patient started curatively intended treatment, consisting of removal of one lymph node on the neck, radiotherapy with concomitant carboplatin and nimorazol. The patient developed bilateral DVT in the legs. Despite treatment with low-molecular-weight heparins, the patient developed thrombosis in the inferior vena cava and lungs. Due to developing painful discolouration and necrosis on the legs, the patient underwent acute and extensive surgery. PCD is a severe and potentially lethal form of DVT. There are several known risk factors for developing DVT, including active cancer and the use of chemotherapy.