Patients with multiple myeloma are at risk of developing thrombosis (blood clots) that are associated with some newer treatments, according to two myeloma experts.
Therefore, researchers from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the University of Washington and Seattle Cancer Alliance, examined if they could identify risk factors for patients to determine who would most likely benefit from blood thinners. Their findings were published in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.
“(Thrombosis) is considered very high-risk especially when patients receive immunomodulatory drugs,” Dr. Ang Li, a medical oncologist at the University of Washington, said in an interview with CURE®. “From other national studies, we know that these patients tend to have a higher risk for developing blood clots. But it is harder in this population with how you figure out who should or shouldn’t receive a potentially preventive treatment.”
The researchers identified more than 3,600 patients using the SEER-Medicare database and a Veterans Health Administration database. All patients were prescribed immunomodulatory drugs, such as Revlimid (lenalidomide) or Thalomid (thalidomide), within a year of their multiple myeloma diagnosis.