Researchers examined links between anticoagulation span and risks of venous thromboembolism (VTE) recurrence post-treatment cessation and major on-treatment bleeding in men with prostate cancer in Sweden. They found that the maximum possible benefit in decreasing recurrent VTE risk was achieved with > 9 months anticoagulation for pulmonary embolism (PE) and > 3–6 months for deep vein thrombosis (DVT). They observed overall low risks of major bleeding.

• This study included 1,413 men with VTE and an outpatient anticoagulant prescription after prostate cancer diagnosis.

• Parenteral (64%), direct oral anticoagulant (31%), and vitamin K antagonist (20%) comprised the prescribed outpatient anticoagulation, and median span of anticoagulation was 7 months.

• The link between anticoagulation duration (reference ≤ 3 months) and recurrent VTE was assessed.

• For off-treatment recurrent PE, adjusted hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals were 0.32 (0.09–1.15), 0.21 (0.06–0.69), and 0.16 (0.05–0.55) for > 3–6 months’ duration, > 6–9 months, and for > 9 months, respectively; corresponding HRs for DVT were 0.67 (0.27–1.66), 0.80 (0.31–2.07), and 1.19 (0.47–3.02).

• For intracranial, gastrointestinal and urogenital bleeding, 1-year cumulative incidences were estimated to be 0.9%, 1.7%, 3.0% during treatment, and 1.2%, 0.9%, 1.6% post-treatment cessation.