Cancer cachexia was associated with significantly lower heart weight compared to non-cachectic cancer subjects (363.1 vs. 447.0 g, P<0.001) and cancer-free controls (P<0.05).
Observational (n=219)
Is cancer cachexia associated with decreased heart weight and cardiac muscle wasting in patients with cancer?
Cancer cachexia is associated with significant cardiac muscle wasting, highlighting the potential importance of screening for cardiac involvement in cachectic cancer patients.
Absolute Event Rate: 363.1% vs 447%
p-value: p=< 0.001
Abstract Aims Cachexia is a severe complication of cancer that adversely affects the course of the disease and is associated with high rates of mortality. Patients with cancer manifest symptoms, such as fatigue, shortness of breath, and impaired exercise tolerance, which are clinical signs of chronic heart failure. The aim of this study was to evaluate cardiac muscle wasting in cancer individuals. Methods and results We retrospectively analysed 177 individuals who died of cancer, including 58 lung, 60 pancreatic, and 59 gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, and 42 cancer-free controls who died of other, non-cardiovascular reasons. Cancer cachexia (CC) was defined based on clinical and/or pathological diagnosis, body mass index (BMI) 20.0 kg/m2 and/or oedema-free body weight loss of 5.0% during the previous year or less. The pathology reports were analysed for BMI, heart weight (HW), and left and right ventricular wall thicknesses (LVWT and RVWT, respectively). The analysis of clinical data included recording of biochemical parameters and medication data of study patients. CC was detected in 54 (30.5%) subjects. Individuals with CC had a significantly lower HW than non-cachectic subjects (363.1 ± 86.2 vs. 447.0 ± 128.9 g, P 0.001) and control group (412.9 ± 75.8 g, P 0.05). BMI correlated with HW in cases with GI cancer (r = 0.44, P 0.001), lung cancer (r = 0.53, P 0.0001), and pancreatic cancer (r = 0.39, P 0.01). Conclusions Body weight loss in individuals with lung, pancreatic, and GI cancers is accompanied by a decrease in HW. In patients with CC who receive cancer treatment, screening for cardiac muscle wasting may have clinical importance.
Barkhudaryan et al. (Sat,) conducted a observational in Cancer cachexia (n=219). Cancer cachexia vs. Non-cachectic cancer subjects and cancer-free controls was evaluated on Heart weight (p=< 0.001). Cancer cachexia was associated with significantly lower heart weight compared to non-cachectic cancer subjects (363.1 vs. 447.0 g, P<0.001) and cancer-free controls (P<0.05).