Coronary microvascular dysfunction predicts cancer risk in NOCAD patients: Study

Based on the study, the researchers found the following:

• Thirty-four percent had CMD (67.4% female and the average age was 52.4 ± 12.2 years).
• Of 917 patients with no history of cancer, 15.5% developed cancer during follow-up (median of 9 years).
• Kaplan-Meier analysis showed CMD patients had lower cancer-free survival compared to those without CMD. 
• Cox proportional hazard analyses showed that after adjusting for age, sex, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, and glomerular filtration rate, CMD is independently associated with cancer (HR, 1.4).
• The rate of MACE was significantly higher in CMD compared to those non-CMD patients in patients who had a previous history of cancer (OR, 2.5) and patients with no history of cancer (OR, 1.4).

The authors conclude, "in patients presenting with non-obstructive coronary artery diseases, CMD is associated with cancer incidence. The study stresses following up in patients with CMD to evaluate MACE risk as well as potential malignant diseases." 

Reference:

Nazanin Rajai, MD, MPH, Ali Ahmad, MD, Takumi Toya, MD, Jaskanwal D Sara, MD, Joerg Herrmann, MD, Lilach O Lerman, MD, PhD, Amir Lerman, MD, Coronary microvascular dysfunction is an independent predictor of developing cancer in patients with non-obstructive coronary artery disease (NOCAD), European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, 2022;, zwac184, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjpc/zwac184