Incidence of symptomatic deep venous thrombosis with epoetin alfa or darbepoetin alfa treatment of anemia in patients with ovarian or primary peritoneal cancer.

OBJECTIVE

Recombinant epoetin alfa and darbepoetin alfa (r-HuEPO) have been shown to be safe and effective treatments for anemia, but recent reports have suggested an increased risk of thromboembolic events when these agents are used to treat chemotherapy-induced anemia among patients with breast or ovarian cancer. We examined the possible risk of such events among patients with ovarian or primary peritoneal carcinomas and chemotherapy-induced anemia.

METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed data over 10 years from women at one hospital with ovarian or primary peritoneal carcinoma and chemotherapy-induced anemia. The incidence and odds ratio for development of deep venous thrombosis, unadjusted and adjusted for baseline differences and risk factors, was assessed between patients who had received r-HuEPO versus no treatment for anemia.

RESULTS

Of the 364 women, 90 had received r-HuEPO and 253 had not. The incidence of deep venous thrombosis was 6.7% in the group that had received r-HuEPO and 5.1% in the group that had not (unadjusted odds ratio, 1.31; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.48-3.55). After adjustment for differences in age, body-mass index, prior thromboembolic disease or cancer, and tobacco use, the odds ratio for developing deep venous thrombosis with the use of r-HuEPO was 1.35 (95% CI, 0.49-3.75).

CONCLUSIONS

The use of r-HuEPO was not associated with an increased risk of deep venous thrombosis in this population. A randomized trial is needed to further explore this issue and to detail the safety and efficacy of these agents in patients with various other cancers.