However, cancer mortality rates similar for those with heart failure and those without
WEDNESDAY, July 13, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Patients who develop heart failure after myocardial infarction may also face a higher risk of cancer, according to a study published in the July 19 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
The new study included 1,081 myocardial infarction patients in Minnesota. Their average age was 65, and 60 percent were male. The researchers tracked the study volunteers’ health for an average of five years.
From that group, 228 developed heart failure and 98 developed types of cancer other than non-melanoma skin cancer. After the researchers adjusted their statistics for factors such as age, gender, and other health conditions, they found that heart failure patients had higher odds of getting diagnosed with cancer compared to myocardial infarction survivors who didn’t develop heart failure (hazard ratio, 1.71).
“Patients who develop heart failure after myocardial infarction have an increased risk of cancer,” the authors write. “This finding extends our previous report of an elevated cancer risk after heart failure compared with controls, and calls for a better understanding of shared risk factors and underlying mechanisms.”
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