Educational Series: Anticoagulation for cancer-associated thrombosis

In this review:

This review discusses the treatment of cancer-associated venous thromboembolism (VTE) and the prevention of recurrent cancer-associated VTE. Patients with cancer are particularly susceptible to developing VTE, comprising deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), and exhibit an elevated risk of recurrent VTE despite anticoagulant therapy. Furthermore, cancer patients tend to have a higher risk of bleeding, making the management of VTE in this population particularly challenging. For the past decade, low-molecular-weight heparins (LMWHs) have been the standard of care for cancer-associated VTE, however, only 50% of patients manage to adhere to long-term treatment.