Towards an emerging role for anticoagulants in cancer therapy: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Huda Moutaz Asmael Al-Azzawi; Syed Ameer Hamza; Rita Paolini; Fizza Arshad; Romeo Patini; Lorraine O'Reilly; Michael McCullough; Antonio Celentano

doi:10.3389/froh.2024.1495942

Towards an emerging role for anticoagulants in cancer therapy: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Front Oral Health. 2024 Nov 6:5:1495942. doi: 10.3389/froh.2024.1495942. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Huda Moutaz Asmael Al-Azzawi¹, Syed Ameer Hamza¹, Rita Paolini¹, Fizza Arshad¹, Romeo Patini², Lorraine O'Reilly^{3

4}, Michael McCullough¹, Antonio Celentano¹

Affiliations

¹ Melbourne Dental School, The University of Melbourne, Carlton, VIC, Australia.
² Head and Neck Department, "Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli-IRCCS" School of Dentistry, Catholic University of Sacred Heart-Rome Largo A. Gemelli, Rome, Italy.
³ Clinical Translation Centre, Cancer Biology and Stem Cells Division and Inflammation Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
⁴ Department of Medical Biology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.

Abstract

Background: Anticoagulants, renowned for their role in preventing blood clot formation, have captivated researchers' attention for the exploitation of their potential to inhibit cancer in pre-clinical models.

Objectives: To undertake a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of anticoagulants in murine cancer research models. Further, to present a reference tool for anticoagulant therapeutic modalities relating to future animal pre-clinical models of cancer and their translation into the clinic.

Methods: Four databases were utilized including Medline (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), Web of science, and Scopus databases. We included studies relating to any cancer conducted in murine models that assessed the effect of traditional anticoagulants (heparin and its derivatives and warfarin) and newer oral anticoagulants on cancer.

Results: A total of 6,158 articles were identified in an initial multi-database search. A total of 157 records were finally included for data extraction. Studies on heparin species and warfarin demonstrated statistically significant results in favour of tumour growth and metastasis inhibition.

Conclusion: Our findings constitute a valuable reference guide for the application of anticoagulants in cancer research and explore the promising utilization of non-anticoagulants heparin in preclinical cancer research.

Systematic review registration: PROSPERO [CRD42024555603].

Keywords: NOACs; anticoagulants; cancer; heparin; preclinical mice models; warfarin.

Publication types

Systematic Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Melbourne Research Scholarship, which has played a significant role in enabling this research.