Increased incidence of chemoport-related thrombosis in patients with colorectal cancer receiving bevacizumab: A single-institutional experience

OBJECTIVE: Chemoport-related thrombosis (CRT) is a serious complication that causes morbidities and interrupts administration of intravenous cancer therapy. We investigated the incidence and risk of CRT in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients treated with bevacizumab (BEV). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 1,534 CRC patients who received chemotherapy with or without BEV using a chemoport between 2014 and 2016. RESULTS: The participants had a median age of 58 (18−85) years, and 60.3% were male. All participants were stratified into three groups: adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) (n=670), palliative chemotherapy (PC) without BEV (n=356), and PC with BEV (n=508). The median follow-up was 20.19 (interquartile range, 14.07−27.19) months. CRT occurred in 3.8% of all patients; incidence of symptomatic and asymptomatic CRT was 2.9% and 0.9%, respectively. CRT occurred more in patients with BEV (5.7%) than in patients without BEV (2.9%, P=0.008). The cumulative incidence of CRT in patients administered PC with BEV was significantly higher than that in those administered AC (P=0.011) and there was a trend toward increased CRT in patients administered PC with BEV compared with those administered PC without BEV (P=0.044). Multivariate analysis found that BEV treatment was the only variable that was significantly associated with CRT (hazard ratio, 2.06; 95% confidence interval, 1.24−3.43; P=0.006). CONCLUSIONS: BEV treatment was significantly associated with increased incidence of CRT in CRC patients.