The Impact of Intra-abdominal Cancer Stage on Outcomes after Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair

Objective A significant number of patients undergoing abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair have a prior diagnosis of cancer. Further information on outcomes following AAA repair in patients with recent intra-abdominal malignancy diagnosis could help guide decision making. Methods We used the 2005-2016 Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER)-Medicare database to examine outcomes of AAA repair in patients with a recent intra-abdominal malignancy diagnosis. Patients who had undergone AAA repair within 2 years following a cancer diagnosis were included in the study and stratified by cancer stage. We used Kaplan-Meir curves and survival models to compare outcomes of AAA repair in patients with cancer to a cohort without cancer. Results We identified 2614 patients with intra-abdominal malignancy and 2680 patients without cancer who had AAA repairs. Cancer stages were: 53% stage I, 31% stage II, 11% stage III and 5% stage IV. Cancer patients were less likely to undergo open repair (20% vs 28% P < 0.001) or emergent repairs (15% vs 24% P < 0.001). Survival 2 years after AAA repair was 81% for patients without cancer and 78% for the cancer cohort. 2-year mortality by cancer stage was 20% for stage I, 20% for stage II, 33% for stage III and 69% for stage IV cancer patients (AHR for 2-year mortality, Stage I 1.10 (95% CI 0.94-1.27), Stage II 1.25 (95% CI 1.05-1.50), Stage III 2.01 (95% CI 1.62-2.50), Stage IV 5.23 (95% CI 4.17-6.56)). Conclusion Patients with late-stage intra-abdominal malignancies had significantly poorer prognosis following repair of a synchronous AAA as compared to patients without cancer. This data could help inform decision making around the role of AAA repair in the setting of concomitant intra-abdominal malignancy.