Gastrectomy for Gastric Cancer Tied to Lower Risk for Cardiovascular Events

TUESDAY, June 4, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Patients with gastric cancer who undergo gastrectomy have a lower risk for cardiovascular events than the general population, according to a study published online March 28 in the International Journal of Surgery.

Yeongkeun Kwon, M.D., Ph.D., from the Korea University College of Medicine in Seoul, and colleagues used data from patients with gastric cancer undergoing gastrectomy (37,698 participants), patients with gastric cancer undergoing endoscopic resection (2,773 participants), and a matched control population (161,887 participants) to investigate differences in the incidence of cardiovascular events.

The researchers found that among patients who underwent gastrectomy for gastric cancer, 2.9 percent (4.69 per 1,000 person-years) developed novel major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) over seven years of follow-up. There was a significantly decreased risk for MACE in the gastrectomy group versus the control population (hazard ratio, 0.65). For patients undergoing endoscopic resection for gastric cancer, 5.4 percent (8.21 per 1,000 person-years) developed novel MACE during follow-up, and the risk for MACE in the endoscopic resection group did not significantly differ from the control population.

“Our results, in addition to their public health importance for the management of cardiovascular risk in patients with gastric cancer, will help patients and health care providers make more informed decisions regarding gastric cancer surgery,” the authors write.

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