Cancer Incidence and Survival Among Patients Following an Acute Coronary Syndrome

To examine the role of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in subsequent cancer incidence and survival, 2 cohorts of patients hospitalized with ACS were matched 1:1 by gender and age (±3 years) to cardiovascular disease (CVD)-free patients from 2 cycles of the Israeli National Health and Nutrition Surveys. Data on all-cause mortality were retrieved from national registries. Cancer incidence with death treated as a competing event, overall survival, and mortality risk associated with incident cancer as a time-dependent variable were compared between the groups. Our cohort included 2,040 cancer-free matched pairs (mean age of 60±14 years, 42.5% women). Despite higher rates of smokers and patients with hypertension and diabetes mellitus, 10-year cumulative cancer incidence was significantly lower in the ACS group compared with CVD-free group (8.0% vs 11.4%, p = 0.02). This decreased risk was more pronounced in women than men (p_interaction = 0.05). Although being free of CVD meant a significant (p <0.001) survival advantage in the general cohort, this advantage faded once a cancer diagnosis was made (p = 0.80). After adjustment for sociodemographic and clinical covariates, the hazard ratios for mortality associated with a cancer diagnosis were 2.96 (95% confidence interval: 2.36 to 3.71) in the ACS group versus 6.41 (95% confidence interval: 4.96 to 8.28) in the CVD-free group (P_interaction<0.001). In conclusion, in this matched cohort, ACS was associated with a lower risk of cancer and mitigated the excess risk of mortality associated with cancer incidence.