Key result
Cancer diagnosis linked to ~10.4-fold higher risk of atrial fibrillation.
Why the study?
AF is an increasingly recognized codiagnosis in cancer, but robust and contemporary estimates of their coprevalence and relative risk were needed.
Does cancer diagnosis increase the prevalence of atrial fibrillation in an unselected nationwide population?
Cross-Sectional (n=8,306,244)
Does cancer diagnosis increase the prevalence of atrial fibrillation in an unselected nationwide population?
Relative Risk: 10.45 (95% CI 7.47–14.62)
Absolute Event Rate: 9.77% vs 1.19%
Cancer and atrial fibrillation share a substantial coprevalence across age groups and tumor types, emphasizing the importance of cardio-oncology in managing shared pathophysiologic risk.
Substantial AF-cancer coprevalence supports clinical vigilance in cardio-oncology; leaves open causal mechanisms and screening implications.
Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an increasingly recognized codiagnosis in patients with cancer. Objectives: This study aimed to provide a robust and contemporary estimate on the coprevalence and relative risk of AF in patients with cancer. Methods: We conducted a nationwide analysis, utilizing diagnosis codes from the Austrian Association of Social Security Providers dataset. Estimates of the coprevalence of cancer and AF and the relative risk of AF in patients with cancer compared with individuals without cancer were obtained as point prevalences with binomial exact confidence intervals and summarized across age groups and cancer types with random-effects models. Results: Overall, 8,306,244 persons were included in the present analysis, of whom 158,675 (prevalence estimate, 1.91%; 95% CI, 1.90-1.92) had a cancer diagnosis code and 112,827 (1.36%; 95% CI, 1.35-1.36) an AF diagnosis code, respectively. The prevalence estimate for AF in patients with cancer was 9.77% (95% CI, 9.63-9.92) and 1.19% (95% CI, 1.19-1.20) in the noncancer population. Conversely, 13.74% (95% CI, 13.54-13.94) of patients with AF had a concurrent cancer diagnosis. The corresponding age-stratified random-effects relative risk ratio for AF in patients with cancer compared with no cancer diagnosis was 10.45 (95% CI, 7.47-14.62). The strongest associations between cancer and AF were observed in younger persons and patients with hematologic malignancies. Conclusion: Cancer and AF have a substantial coprevalence in the population. This finding corroborates the concept that cancer and AF have common risk factors and pathophysiology.
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Ay et al. (2023) conducted a cross-sectional in Cancer and Atrial Fibrillation (n=8,306,244). Cancer diagnosis vs. No cancer diagnosis was evaluated on Relative risk of atrial fibrillation (RR 10.45, 95% CI 7.47-14.62). Cancer diagnosis was associated with a roughly 10-fold increased relative risk of atrial fibrillation compared to individuals without cancer (age-stratified RR 10.45).
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