Abstract / Description: 

Background
We evaluated the risk of cardiac death in patients with prior cancer diagnoses and compared risk by cancer type and ethnicity in a large US population.

Method
Utilizing the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database, data on patients with a cancer diagnosis between 2000 and 2014 were obtained. We calculated the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) of cardiac death after a cancer diagnosis and the excess risk per 10,000 person-years. We stratified the analysis according to the time interval between cancer and cardiac events, cancer site, cancer stage, and race.

Results
A total of 4,671,989 patients with a cancer diagnosis were included, of which 163,255 died due to cardiac causes within 10 years of diagnosis. We found a significantly higher rate of cardiac death for cancer patients [SMR=1.16, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.15ñ1.16] compared to the general population. When observed for each cancer site, the highest SMR was after a diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (SMR=2.58, 95% CI 2.45ñ2.72), pancreatic cancer (SMR=2.36, 95% CI 2.25ñ2.47), and lung cancer (SMR=2.30, 95% CI 2.27ñ2.34). Patients with metastatic disease had a higher rate of cardiac death (SMR=2.16, 95% CI 2.13ñ2.19). When stratified by ethnicity, SMR for cardiac death was 1.76, 2.28, 3.68, 2.65, and 1.84 for whites, blacks, American Indians/Alaska Natives, Asians/Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics, respectively.

Conclusions
Cancer patients are more vulnerable to cardiac death than the general population, especially those with nonwhite ethnicity; liver, lung, and pancreatic cancers; and history of metastasis. Healthcare providers should be aware of this risk and pay particular attention to the highest-risk groups.

Collection: 
eCardio Hub Collection
Category: 
General CV
Date: 
2019
Author: 
Mohamed M.Gada,b,?,Anas M.Saada,c,Muneer J.Al-Husseinid,Abdelrahman IbrahimAbushoukc,SamiSalahiac,Karim AbdurRehmana,HarisRiaza,Haitham M.Ahmede