Thromboembolic (TE) complications in germ cell tumor (GCT) patients: Should use of peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC-Line) be pursued?

571 Background: Patients with GCT receiving cisplatin-based chemotherapy are at high risk of TE events (TEE). Several risk factors have been reported previously, such as cisplatin, Lactate Deshydrogenase, body surf area (BSA)... Methods: we conducted a retrospective study of all patients (pts) with GCT, treated with platinum salts and followed at the university hospital and anticancer center of Bordeaux (June 2007 - January 2015). The following characteristics were recorded: age, performans status, BSA, histological type, site of primitive tumor, stage, prognosis (IGCCCG classification), size of retroperitoneal lymphnode, LDH, type of venous pathway (peripheral vein, implantable venous access port or PICC-Line), prophylaxis of anticoagulant or not, TEE and median time to onset. Results: 206 pts were selected. Thirty-six (17.4%) had one or more venous or arterial TEE during or within 3 months of the end of chemotherapy: 26 deep vein thromboses, 13 pulmonary embolisms and 4 arterial accidents (2 acute limb ischemia and 2 acute coronary syndromes). The median time between treatment initiation and occurrence of TEE was 38.5 days [7-248]. Among the 12 pts with PICC-line, 6 (50%) had a TEE, including 4 cases of pulmonary embolism. In addition to the presence of a PICC-line (OR 4.62 [1.28, 15.56]), factors associated with an increased TE risk in univariate analysis were the use of implantable venous access port (OR: 3.97 [1.81; 9.12]), size of retroperitoneal adenopathy ≥ 2 cm ([2-5 cm]: OR: 24.39 [4.50 - 454.39]; > 5cm : OR : 26.25 [5,00 - 484.5]), stage II (OR : 10.19 [1,9 - 188.96]), stage III (OR :27.2 [5.34 - 479.9]), prognosis group (good : OR : 11.16 [2.16 - 205.04]) ; intermediate : OR : 31.50 [4.81 – 624.20] ; unfavorable : OR : 33.35 [5.7 – 637.34]), VIP (etoposide-ifosfamide-cisplatin) protocol (OR :6.35 [1.51 – 28.15]) and high LDH level (OR :3.88 [1.63 – 10.34]). Conclusions: These results suggest a significant association between PICC-line and the occurrence of TEE in univariate analysis. PICC-line is not risk-free and should be used sparingly in pts with GCT whose treatment objective remains primarily a cure at the cost of less toxicity.