Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) for patients with cancer-associated venous thromboembolism: a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials and observational studies

Abstract

The aim of this study is to assess the efficacy and harms of the direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) for patients with cancer-associated venous thromboembolism (VTE). The study was designed as a systematic literature review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and observational studies in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. We will include publications with patients older than 18 years of age with active cancer-associated VTE comparing efficacy and harms of DOACs with low-molecular weight heparin. Main efficacy outcome is VTE recurrence and main harm outcome is major bleeding. Information sources: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), clinicaltrials.gov, World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP), International Standard Randomised Controlled Trials Number (ISRCTN) registry, and SciELO. Revision of titles, abstracts, full texts; risk of bias (Cochrane's tools), and data extraction will be independently performed by 2 reviewers. Meta-analysis will be conducted in RevMan.