Apixaban for the Prevention of Venous Thromboembolism in Cancer Patients (AVERT)

November 19, 2018 updated by: Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

Apixaban for the Prevention of Venous Thromboembolism in High-Risk Ambulatory Cancer Patients: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind Clinical Trial

Cancer patients have an increased risk of developing blood clots in the veins compared to non-cancer patients. Cancer patients who develop blood clots can lead to reduced life expectancy, delayed cancer treatment, and decreased quality of life. Prevention is the most effective way to decrease the complications associated with blood clots in the veins. Although previous clinical trials have shown some benefit on the use of medication to prevent blood clots in the veins in ambulatory cancer patients, these studies have been inconclusive in demonstrating that existing blood thinners significantly reduce the rate of blood clots in cancer patients. One possible explanation relates to the fact that these studies have included a large proportion of cancer patients who are a low risk of developing blood clots in the veins. We are proposing to identify cancer patients who are at a high risk of developing blood clots by using a validated tool at the time of their cancer diagnosis. The identified high risk cancer patients will be asked to participate in a trial to test the safety and efficacy of a new oral medication that has been used to prevent blood clots in patients undergoing surgery. We are enrolling 574 patients in 7 Canadian centers (Ottawa, Halifax, Montreal, Vancouver, Sault Ste. Marie, Toronto and Hamilton). 287 patients will receive the study drug and 287 will receive an inactive substance. Analysis will be performed to assess the safety and the superiority of the study drug.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Patients holding a malignancy have a 7 to 28-fold higher risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE) than non-cancer patients(1). Since most cancer patients are currently treated in the outpatient setting, an acute episode of VTE has important implications on their care due to its effects on reduced life expectancy, high rates of VTE recurrence, therapeutic failures, delays in chemotherapy and the risk of bleeding during anticoagulation.

The best treatment of an acute episode of VTE is its prevention (thromboprophylaxis). Although previous clinical trials have shown some benefit on the use of thromboprophylaxis in ambulatory cancer patients, these studies have been inconclusive to convincingly demonstrate that existing anticoagulants significantly reduce the rate of VTE in cancer patients. Possible explanations are related to the fact that these studies have included a large number of cancer patients whose risk for VTE has been low and in consequence, the benefit of anticoagulation has become diluted by the large proportion of low risk cancer patients.

To increase the success of thromboprophylaxis in cancer outpatients, we propose, first, to include validated methods for predicting the risk of VTE at the time of cancer diagnosis(2, 3). This strategy will facilitate to identify cancer patients at high-risk for VTE and then, optimize the risk-to benefit ratio with anticoagulation. Second, to assess safety and efficacy of new oral anticoagulants in cancer patients as they represent an attractive alternative for an extended use of thromboprophylaxis. As a choice, new oral agents can be administered in fixed doses, do not require laboratory monitoring, have minimal interaction with additional drugs and provide a pain free alternative in patients who require injections.

Reference List

  1. Blood Coagul Fibrinolysis 2011. Blood Coagul Fibrinolysis 2011;22:86-91.
  2. Blood 2010. Blood 2010;116:5377-5382.
  3. Blood 2008. Blood 2008;111:4902-4907.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

575

Phase

  • Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • British Columbia
      • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V5Z 1M9
        • Vancouver General Hospital
    • Nova Scotia
      • Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3H 1V7
        • Capital District Health Authority
    • Ontario
      • Barrie, Ontario, Canada, L4M 6M2
        • Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH)
      • Brampton, Ontario, Canada, L6R 3J7
        • William Osler Health System -Brampton
      • Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, L8V 1C3
        • Juravinski Hospital & Cancer Centre
      • Kingston, Ontario, Canada, K7L 2V7
        • Kingston General Hospital
      • London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 5W9
        • London Health Sciences Center
      • Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
        • Lakeridge Health -Oshawa
      • Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1H 8L6
        • Ottawa Hospital-General Campus
      • Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, P6B 0A8
        • Sault Area Hospital
      • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, L3P 7P3
        • Markham Stouffville Hospital
    • Quebec
      • Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, J8P 7H2
        • Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de l'Outaouais - Gatineau
      • Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3T 1E2
        • Jewish General Hospital
      • Rimouski, Quebec, Canada
        • Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux du Bas St Laurent -Rimouski

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • A newly diagnosed cancer site or progression of the malignant disease after complete or partial remission.
  • Initiating a new course of chemotherapy with a minimum intent of 3 months therapy
  • A VTE risk stratification score of ≥ 2, according to the scoring method
  • Age 18 years old or older
  • Provide written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Lesions or conditions at increased risk of clinically significant bleeding (eg. active peptic ulcer disease)
  • Objectively confirmed substantial liver insufficiency as defined by clinical manifestations of ascites, cirrhosis, encephalopathy and/or jaundice and/or biochemical abnormalities in liver function tests including hypoalbuminemia (< 3.5 gr/dL), elevated levels of total bilirubin (> 25 umol/L), elevated liver transaminases (2 times the upper limit of normal) and/or biochemical diagnosis of biliary tract obstruction (elevated levels of gamma-glutamyl transferase and alkaline phosphatase, 3 times the upper limit of normal). *
  • Diagnosis of basal cell or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin or acute leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome**
  • Planned stem cell transplant
  • Life expectancy less than 6 months
  • Acute or chronic renal insufficiency with glomerular filtration rate (GFR) < 30 ml/min calculated by the Cockroft and Gault formula.
  • Pregnancy***
  • Continuous anticoagulation with vitamin K antagonists, low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH), or other oral anticoagulants
  • Weight < 40 Kg
  • Platelet count < 50 x 109/L
  • Known allergies to ingredients contained in apixaban
  • Use of any contraindicated medications with apixaban

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Quadruple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Apixaban
2.5 mg BID for 6 months
Apixaban 2.5 mg tablets BID for 6 months
Other Names:
  • Eliquis
Placebo Comparator: Placebo drug
2.5 mg BID for 6 months
placebo drug 2.5mg BID for 6 months

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
first episode of objectively documented, symptomatic or asymptomatic VTE (DVT and/or PE)
Time Frame: 7 months
7 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Rate of adverse events
Time Frame: 7 months
rate of clinical overt bleeding( major and minor bleeding) and death within the study period
7 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Collaborators

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Phil Wells, MD, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

March 24, 2014

Primary Completion (Actual)

October 10, 2018

Study Completion (Actual)

October 19, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 27, 2014

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 28, 2014

First Posted (Estimate)

January 29, 2014

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

November 20, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 19, 2018

Last Verified

November 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • OHSN-20130563-01H
  • CV185-245 (Other Grant/Funding Number: Bristol-Myers Squibb)

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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