• Media type: E-Article
  • Title: Blood Cholesterol and Outcome of Patients with Cancer under Regular Cardiological Surveillance
  • Contributor: Hohneck, Anna Lena; Rosenkaimer, Stephanie; Hofheinz, Ralf-Dieter; Akin, Ibrahim; Borggrefe, Martin; Gerhards, Stefan
  • imprint: MDPI AG, 2021
  • Published in: Current Oncology
  • Language: English
  • DOI: 10.3390/curroncol28010085
  • ISSN: 1718-7729
  • Origination:
  • Footnote:
  • Description: <jats:p>Cardiovascular (CV) diseases and cancer share several similarities, including common risk factors. In the present investigation we assessed the relationship between cholesterol levels and mortality in a cardiooncological collective. In total, 551 patients receiving anticancer treatment were followed over a median of 41 (95% CI 40, 43) months and underwent regular cardiological surveillance. A total of 140 patients (25.4%) died during this period. Concomitant cardiac diseases were more common in patients who deceased (53 (37.9%) vs. 67 (16.3%), p &lt; 0.0001), as well as prior stroke. There were no differences in the distribution of classical CV risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes or nicotine consumption. While total cholesterol (mg/dL) was significantly lower in patients who deceased (157 ± 59 vs. 188 ± 53, p &lt; 0.0001), both HDL and LDL cholesterol were not differing. In addition, cholesterol levels varied between different tumour entities; lowest levels were found in patients with tumours of the hepatopancreaticobiliary system (median 121 mg/dL), while patients with melanoma, cerebral tumours and breast cancer had rather high cholesterol levels (median &gt; 190 mg/dL). Cholesterol levels were significantly lower in patients who died of cancer; lowest cholesterol levels were observed in patients who died of tumours with higher mitotic rate (mesenchymal tumours, cerebral tumours, breast cancer). Cox regression analysis revealed a significant mortality risk for patients with stem cell transplantation (HR 4.31) and metastasised tumour stages (HR 3.31), while cardiac risk factors were also associated with a worse outcome (known cardiac disease HR 1.58, prior stroke/TIA HR 1.73, total cholesterol HR 1.70), with the best discriminative performance found for total cholesterol (p = 0.002).</jats:p>
  • Access State: Open Access