Brit J Heamatol: Primary prevention of venous thromboembolism in patients with multiple myeloma treated with immunomodulators

Immunomodulation drugs (IMiDs) improve survival in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) and are the cornerstone of treatment at all stagesDespite good tolerance, IMiD can increase the incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE)recently published a study in the journal British Journal of Haematology, an authoritative journal of blood system diseases, in which 50 MM patients treated with IMID were given 2.5 mg oral apixaban spent twice a day to prevent VTE and undergo six months of forward-looking monitoringThe main safety outcome of the study was the incidence of haemorrhage and clinically related incidence of non-hemorrhage within six monthsThe main therapeutic outcome of the study was the incidence of symptomatic VTE within six monthsThe iMiD used by the subjects was either penadomine (58%) or pomalidomide (42%)no patients developed haemorrhage or VTE during the six-month evaluation periodThree patients experienced clinically related non-large bleeding and all were able to retake apixabanOne patient stopped treatment shortly after starting treatment because of an allergy to apixabanNo patients have a stroke, myocardial infarction or deathin this prospective study, low-dose apixaban is safe and well tolerated as a Primary Prevention Strategy for MM patients treated with IMiDFurther research is needed to verify whether low-dose apixaban can be used as a standard primary prevention strategy for antithrombotic in MM patients treated with IMiD