Incidence and clinical implications of venous thromboembolism in advanced colorectal cancer patients: Findings from the ‘GISCAD-Alternating schedule‘ study

20502 Background: The incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE), as well as its prognostic role among advanced colorectal cancer (ACC) patients are still not completely understood. Methods: This survey regards a subgroup of patients from the sample enrolled in a randomized phase III study comparing LLV: 100/mg/m2 iv + 5FU: 400 mg/m2 iv bolus + 5FU: 600 mg/m2 22 hr continuous infusion, day 1 and 2 + CPT-11: 180 mg/m2 day 1, administered every 2 weeks 2 months on and 2 months off (ARM A) and the same regimen administered continuously (ARM B), until progression in both arms. Most patients received an oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy as second-line treatment. The occurrence of symptomatic, objectively documented, VTE was collected and its relationship with treatment duration and outcome was assessed using a proportional hazard model with time dependent variables. Results: At the time of this analysis we evaluated data regarding 203 patients from 9 participating centres. At a median follow-up of 57 months 23 (11...