Effectiveness and safety of dual antiplatelet therapy in patients with minor ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack and cancer: A secondary analysis of the READAPT study

Introduction: Patients with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) and cancer face unique risks of recurrent ischemic events and bleeding. It is unclear whether this increased risk is present even in patients with minor ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) receiving dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT). This study aimed to evaluate the impact of cancer on the short-term outcomes after DAPT in patients with non-cardioembolic minor ischemic stroke or high-risk TIA. Patients and methods: This was a secondary analysis of the prospective multicentric READAPT study (NCT05476081), including patients with non-cardioembolic minor ischemic stroke (NIHSS ⩽ 5) or high-risk TIA (ABCD2 ⩾4) who initiated DAPT within 48 h of symptom onset. The primary effectiveness outcome was the 90-day risk of new ischemic stroke or other vascular events (TIA, myocardial infarction, death due to vascular causes). Secondary outcomes included 90-day mRS score distribution and all-cause mortality. The primary safety outcome was the 90-day risk of any bleeding, with secondary safety outcomes including 24-h hemorrhagic transformation. We used Inverse Probability Weighting to compare outcomes between patients with and without cancer. Results: From 2278 patients in the READAPT study cohort, we included 1561 patients (mean age 70.3 ± 11.7 years; 65.4% males), of whom 206 (13.2%) had cancer, categorized as either active (27.7%) or in remission (72.3%). After weighting, overall cancer patients had a higher risk of 90-day new ischemic stroke or other vascular events (weighted HR 1.78, 95% CI 1.20–2.63, p = 0.004) and worse 90-day mRS score distribution (OR 1.24, 95% CI 1.10–1.41, p < 0.001) compared to patients without cancer. The 90-day risk of bleeding did not differ between cancer and no-cancer groups overall. When analyzing cancer subgroups, patients with active cancer had significantly higher risk of 90-day ischemic stroke or other vascular (weighted HR 2.75, 95% CI 1.70–4.45, p < 0.001) and any bleeding (weighted HR 2.51, 95% CI 1.27–4.97, p = 0.008) events compared to no-cancer patients. In contrast, patients with cancer in remission had comparable risks to those without cancer. Furthermore, hematological malignancies were associated with a substantially higher risk of 90-day new ischemic stroke or other vascular events compared to solid tumors (weighted HR 8.15, 95% CI 5.06–13.14, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Patients with minor ischemic stroke or high-risk TIA and active cancer have increased risk of ischemic and bleeding events after DAPT. Conversely, patients with cancer in remission have similar outcomes compared to those with no cancer.