Heart Failure and Cancer Risk Are Related

Kirsten E. Fleischmann, MD, MPH

During a 7-year follow-up, HF patients were 1.7 times more likely than community controls to receive cancer diagnoses.

Patients with heart failure (HF) are at excess risk for mortality, from both cardiac- and noncardiac-related causes. In this case-control study from a large community database in Minnesota, investigators sought to assess the relation between HF and cancer (and the effect of cancer on prognosis) in 961 newly diagnosed HF patients and the same number of community-based controls matched for age and sex. The prevalence of cancer at HF-diagnosis index date was similar (22% of HF patients and 23% of controls); 596 pairs in which neither member had cancer at the index date were followed for incident cancer and survival.

During an average follow-up of 7.7 years, risk for incident cancer was significantly higher in HF patients (hazard ratio, 1.68) after adjustment for smoking, body-mass index, and other comorbidities. Incident cancer was associated with mortality (HR, 1.56).

Citation(s):

Hasin T et al. Patients with heart failure have an increased risk of incident cancer. J Am Coll Cardiol 2013 Sep 3; 62:881.

Deswal A and Basra SS.Incident cancer in patients with heart failure: Causation or mere association? J Am Coll Cardiol 2013 Sep 3; 62:887.