Cancer patients who received rivaroxaban (Xarelto) to treat venous thromboembolism (VTE) had significantly fewer emergency room visits and lower healthcare costs compared with those who received standard treatment, according to recent studies.

The results were presented at the American Society of Hematology annual meeting in San Diego. Janssen Pharmaceuticals, which manufactures rivaroxaban, announced the findings in a Dec. 6 news release.

The FDA has approved rivaroxaban to reduce the risk of stroke and systemic embolism in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation as well as to treat deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.

During the first six months, 71 percent of people who received rivaroxaban and 63 percent of patients who received low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) were sent to the emergency room to begin anticoagulation treatments. At one year, 42 percent of patients in the emergency room were treated with rivaroxaban. At 18 months, the proportion decreased to 34 percent.

Another analysis found that patients who were newly diagnosed with cancer and had a VTE recurrence utilized significantly more healthcare resources compared with patients who had no VTE recurrence. The researchers defined healthcare resources as emergency room visits, outpatient visits, hospitalizations and days spent in the hospital.

In addition, a study found that patients with cancer who received rivaroxaban used fewer VTE-related healthcare resources than those who were treated with LMWH or warfarin. Meanwhile, a companion study found that VTE-related healthcare resource utilization was lowest in patients receiving rivaroxaban, while healthcare costs were lower in the rivaroxaban group than the LWMH group and similar between the rivaroxaban and warfarin groups. Those two studies analyzed claims from a Humana database.