Acute coronary syndrome in patients undergoing anticancer therapies: A single-center, controlled case study

Background: Anticancer therapies can be accompanied by cardiovascular complications, including acute coronary syndrome (ACS). In turn, the presence of cancer can influence therapeutic decisions if ACS occurs.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to analyze ACS treatment in patients with cancer.

Material and methods: The study consisted of a retrospective analysis based on the medical records of patients who were admitted due to ACS, with cancer diagnoses. Patients currently undergoing cancer treatment or having treatment which ended up to 6 months before the ACS were included. They were compared to a control group consisting of consecutive patients admitted for ACS during the same period, but who did not have a diagnosis of cancer; they were matched with the experimental group in terms of age, gender and clinical type of ACS.

Results: Thirty-two consecutive cancer patients (70 ±9 years; 53% men) met the inclusion criteria. In 22 of them (69%), ACS occurred during their cancer treatment, and in 10 (31%), it presented within 6 months of completing cancer treatment. Upon hospital admission, 19 (59%) cancer patients complained of dyspnea and 7 of typical angina, while in the control group 28, (87%) and 4 (13%) reported such symptoms, respectively.The clinical manifestation of ACS was NSTEMI in 16 patients (50%), UA in 10 (31%) and STEMI in 5 (15.6%). Coronary angiography was done in 25 (78%) of the cancer patients and in all members of the control group. Percutaneous coronary angioplasty (PCA) was performed in 17 (53%) and 23 (72%) of the patients from the respective groups. The median time to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was 10 h (30 min-10 days) among the cancer patients and 7.5 h among the control group (30 min-6 days). There were no PCI-related complications or severe bleeding in both groups. In-hospital mortality was 6.25% in the cancer group and there were no reported hospital deaths in the control group.

Conclusions: Dyspnea is the most common symptom of ACS in cancer patients who are treated invasively too rarely: the presence of cancer and active anticancer treatment should not limit the management of ACS in accordance with current guidelines.