Semin Thromb Hemost 2000; Volume 26(Number s1): 069-078
DOI: 10.1055/s-2000-9499
Copyright © 2000 by Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc., 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA. Tel.: +1(212) 584-4662

Low-Molecular-Weight Heparin and Cancer

Leo R. Zacharski1 , Deborah L. Ornstein1 , Alexander C. Mamourian2
  • VA Medical & Regional Office Center, White River Junction, Vermont, and the
  • 1Department of Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire and
  • 2Department of Radiology, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire. This work was supported, in part, by the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Research Service and by the Tiffany Blake Fellowship from the Hitchcock Foundation, Hanover, New Hampshire
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
31 December 2000 (online)

 

ABSTRACT

Heparin is a familiar anticoagulant drug with properties that may impede tumor growth; it modifies properties of cells that contribute to malignant dissemination such as angiogenesis, growth factor and protease activity, immune function, proliferation, and gene expression. Heparin has antitumor effects in animal models of malignancy, and studies in human malignancy show improved cancer outcome with heparin treatment. Meta-analyses comparing unfractionated heparin (UFH) and low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) for treatment of deep-vein thrombosis have shown apparent substantial improvement in cancer outcome in the subset of patients with malignancy who were randomly assigned to receive LMWH. This experience, together with the favorable pharmacokinetic properties of LMWH, provides a rationale for prospective clinical trials of LMWH in patients with cancer. Such trials should provide (a) definitive data on possible antitumor effects of this treatment, (b) insight into possible heterogeneous responses to heparin treatment among different histological types and stages of malignancy, and (c) a setting for exploring mechanisms of antineoplastic effect in human malignancy.

KEYWORD

Low-molecular-weight heparins - cancer - antineoplastic action - angiogenesis

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