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Erschienen in: Cancer Causes & Control 3/2015

01.03.2015 | Original Paper

The effect of warfarin therapy on breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancer survival: a population-based cohort study using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink

verfasst von: M. A. O’Rorke, L. J. Murray, C. M. Hughes, M. M. Cantwell, C. R. Cardwell

Erschienen in: Cancer Causes & Control | Ausgabe 3/2015

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Abstract

Purpose

Pre-clinical studies suggest that oral anticoagulant agents, such as warfarin, may inhibit metastases and potentially prolong survival in cancer patients. However, few population-based studies have examined the association between warfarin use and cancer-specific mortality.

Methods

Using prescribing, cause of death, and cancer registration data from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink, four population-based cohorts were constructed, comprising breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancer patients diagnosed between 1 January 1998, and the 31 December 2010. Comparing pre-diagnostic warfarin users to non-users, multivariable Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) for cancer-specific mortality.

Results

Overall, 16,525 breast, 12,902 colorectal, 12,296 lung, and 12,772 prostate cancers were included. Pre-diagnostic warfarin use ranged from 2.4 to 4.7 %. There was little evidence of any strong association between warfarin use pre-diagnosis and cancer-specific mortality in prostate (adjusted HR 1.03, 95 % CI 0.84–1.26), lung (adjusted HR 1.06, 95 % CI 0.96–1.16), breast (adjusted HR 0.81, 95 % CI 0.62–1.07), or colorectal (adjusted HR 0.88, 95 % CI 0.77–1.01) cancer patients. Dose–response analyses did not reveal consistent evidence of reductions in users of warfarin defined by the number of prescriptions used and daily defined doses.

Conclusions

There was little evidence of associations between pre-diagnostic use of warfarin and cancer-specific mortality in lung, prostate, breast, or colorectal cancer patients.
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Metadaten
Titel
The effect of warfarin therapy on breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancer survival: a population-based cohort study using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink
verfasst von
M. A. O’Rorke
L. J. Murray
C. M. Hughes
M. M. Cantwell
C. R. Cardwell
Publikationsdatum
01.03.2015
Verlag
Springer International Publishing
Erschienen in
Cancer Causes & Control / Ausgabe 3/2015
Print ISSN: 0957-5243
Elektronische ISSN: 1573-7225
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-014-0511-2

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