Clinical outcomes after transcatheter aortic valve implantation in active cancer patients and cancer survivors

BACKGROUND: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the clinical characteristics, perioperative, and mid-term outcomes of patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis and active cancer disease and cancer survivors undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation. METHODS: Between December 2011 and March 2019, a total of 550 patients (248 males, 302 females; mean age: 77.6±7.9 years; range, 46 to 103 years) who underwent transcatheter aortic valve implantation for severe symptomatic aortic stenosis in our center were retrospectively analyzed. Baseline demographic characteristics, cancer type, laboratory data, procedural data, and outcome data of the patients were collected. The primary outcome measure was all-cause mortality at 30 days and every six months up to maximally available follow-up. Follow-up was performed at 30 days, six months, and 12 months after the procedure and annually thereafter. RESULTS: Of the patients, 36 had a cancer diagnosis-active (n=10) or cured (n=26). The most common types of cancer were colorectal (16.6%), prostate (13.8%), leukemia (11.1%), and bladder (11.1%) cancers. Post-procedural complication rates were similar between the two groups. No mortality was observed in the cancer group at one month of follow-up. During follow-up, seven patients died within one year due to non-cardiac reasons. Although mortality at one year was higher in cancer patients, it did not reach statistical significance (23.3% vs. 11.6%, respectively; p=0.061). The estimated cumulative survival rate was 71.0% in the non-cancer group and 58.3% in the cancer group. The multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that cancer was independently associated with cumulative mortality after adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, and atrial fibrillation (p=0.008). CONCLUSION: Our study results show that transcatheter aortic valve implantation is safe and feasible in active cancer patients and cancer survivors with similar short-term and mid-term mortality and procedure-related complication rates, compared to non-cancer patients.