What is the impact of antithrombotic therapy and risk factors on the frequency of thrombovascular events in patients with metastatic breast cancer receiving epoetin beta?

Abstract 

Purpose, patients and methods

This retrospective analysis of the BRAVE study evaluated the impact of baseline risk factors and antithrombotic therapy on the risk of thrombovascular events (TVEs) in patients receiving epoetin compared to patients not receiving epoetin.

Results

Baseline risk factors have a significant impact on TVE risk under epoetin therapy. More than 2 risk factors increased the risk of TVEs in patients receiving epoetin (hazard ratio [HR] 2.89, confidence interval [CI] 1.04–8.02, p value [p]=0.04). In patients on epoetin without antithrombotic therapy, the risk for TVEs was higher (HR 4.11, CI 1.37–12.4, p=0.01) compared to those who received antithrombotics (HR 1.37, CI 0.59–3.18, p=0.45).

Conclusions

Our analysis has identified several risk factors which may impact the risk of TVEs under epoetin therapy. These data suggest that antithrombotic therapy may have the potential to reduce the risk of TVEs under epoetin therapy. These findings are hypothesis-generating and need to be confirmed in a prospective, randomised study.

Keywords: Anaemia, Breast cancer, Epoetin, Thrombovascular events