Abstract
BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular risk factors are associated with increased risk of future cancer. However, the relationship between quantitative parameters of atherosclerosis and future cancer risk is unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 1,057 consecutive patients with coronary artery disease was divided into 2 groups according to the cutoff value of the cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) derived by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis: low CAVI group (CAVI <8.82; n=487), and high CAVI group (CAVI ≥8.82; n=570). Patients in the high CAVI group were older and had a higher prevalence of diabetes, chronic kidney disease, anemia and history of stroke compared with patients in the low CAVI group. There were 141 new cancers during the follow-up period. The cumulative incidence of new cancer was significantly higher in the high CAVI group than in the low CAVI group (P=0.001). In a multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis, high CAVI was found to be an independent predictor of new cancer diagnosis (hazard ratio 1.62; 95% confidence interval 1.11-2.36; P=0.012). In the analysis of individual cancer types, high CAVI was associated with lung cancer (hazard ratio 2.85; 95% confidence interval 1.01-8.07; P=0.049). CONCLUSIONS: High CAVI was associated with the risk of future cancer in patients with coronary artery disease.