Cancer patients have a higher risk of developing atrial fibrillation (AF), with the degree depending on the types of cancer, the American College of Cardiology said Wednesday, citing a Korean study.
The study, led by Dr. Yun Jun-pil from the Department of Internal Medicine at Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH), revealed the relationship between cancer and the incidence of AF.
Dr. Yun’s research team conducted a national population-based study, observing 816,811 national patients diagnosed with cancer between 1994 and 2014 based on data from the Korea National Health Insurance Service.
The researchers identified newly diagnosed AF patients based on 19 cancer types with separate analyses. Additionally, the researchers adjusted for risk factors for AF, including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, obesity, chronic kidney disease, smoking, alcohol, exercise, and socio-status. -economic.
During a median follow-up of 4.5 years, 25,356 cancer patients developed newly developed AF, or about 6.6 per 1,000 people.
In Fine and Gray’s regression analysis, cancer patients had a 1.6 times higher risk of developing AF, showing a clear association between cancer and AF.
All cancer types contributed to the incidence of AF, but it varied by cancer type.
Among the hematological malignancies, patients with multiple myeloma over the age of 35 had the highest risk of AF compared to the non-cancer control group. All hematological malignancies, including lymphoma, leukemia, and multiple myeloma, have shown an increased risk of developing AF.
Study results also showed that solid cancers, such as intrathoracic malignancies, including lung cancer, esophageal cancer, and CNS cancer, were associated with a high risk of AF. Among the listed cancers, lung cancer patients over 50 had the highest risk of AF incidence, while liver cancer was a major risk factor for those under 50.
Cancer patients had a consistently higher risk of developing AF across all subgroups. Although subgroup analysis demonstrated that the absolute incidence of AF was higher in patients with risk factors including older age, diabetes, hypertension, CKD, obesity and smoking, the relative risk of AF was higher in those without AF risk factors.
The impact of AF risk decreased with time since cancer diagnosis, but remained significant. Cancer patients had a 44% higher risk of developing AF five years after diagnosis.
Although all 19 cancer types had an impact on the development of AF, some cancers were not significantly associated with an increased risk of AF five years after cancer diagnosis, with the exception of those with blood diseases. malignant.
The researchers concluded that patients with a history of cancer diagnosis had a higher risk of suffering from AF than those who had not suffered from cancer.
“Given the high risk of AF in patients with hematological malignancies, intrathoracic malignancies, and central nervous system (CNS) tumors, physicians may need to consider more intensive screening,” the researchers noted in the study. “However, we could not clarify whether routine screening can improve outcomes and optimal management strategies.”
Yun said more studies are needed to identify predictors of AF, particularly in people with hematological malignancies, and whether routine screening could improve outcomes in specific populations.
Yun and colleagues also suggested that physicians and patients be aware of the increased risk of AF caused by hematological malignancies, intrathoracic malignancies, and CNS tumors during their care.
The study results were published Wednesday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
