Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32850047›Full record

ReviewJournal of community hospital internal medicine perspectives2020

Atrial fibrillation and cancer; understanding the mysterious relationship through a systematic review.

Noman Lateef, Vikas Kapoor, Muhammad Junaid Ahsan, Azka Latif, Umair Ahmed, Mohsin Mirza, Faiz Anwar, Mark Holmberg

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Journal of community hospital internal medicine perspectives, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
20citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
2.5field-weighted citation impact, top 9% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

20 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Left atrial appendage occlusion in patients with cancer.Journal of thrombosis and thrombolysis · 2025
    Review
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  8. Impact of Newly Diagnosed Cancer on Bleeding Events in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation Treated with Direct Oral Anticoagulants.American journal of cardiovascular drugs : drugs, devices, and other interventions · 2024
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  20. Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion in Cancer-Associated Atrial Fibrillation: Who, When, and How to Manage Antithrombotic Therapy.Clinical and applied thrombosis/hemostasis : official journal of the International Academy of Clinical and Applied Thrombosis/Hemostasis
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Noman LateefDepartment of Internal Medicine, Creighton University Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-0782-6054
Vikas KapoorDepartment of Internal Medicine, Creighton University Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
Muhammad Junaid AhsanDepartment of Internal Medicine, Creighton University Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-2472-9379
Azka LatifDepartment of Internal Medicine, Creighton University Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
Umair AhmedDepartment of Medicine, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan.
Mohsin MirzaDepartment of Internal Medicine, Creighton University Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
Faiz AnwarDepartment of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-6914-7439
Mark HolmbergDepartment of Cardiovascular Medicine, Creighton University Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
CHI Health Creighton University Medical Center - Bergan Mercy · USCleveland Clinic · USDow University of Health Sciences · PK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAtrial Fibrillation (AFib) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, occurring in ≈1% of the general population. An increased risk of malignancy among patients with AFib would be of substantial public health importance, given the high prevalence and associated economic burden of both disorders.

objectivesTo evaluate the relationship between atrial fibrillation (AFib) and cancer.

methodsWe conducted an extensive database search on PubMed, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, and SEER Database from their inception to September 2019 for any study that evaluated the association between AFib and cancer.

resultsIn the first 3 months of AFib diagnosis, Ostenfeld et al. reported an absolute cancer risk of 2.5% with a standardized incidence ratio of 7.02 and 3.53 for metastatic and localized cancer, respectively. Likewise, Saliba et al. detected an increase in the odds of cancer diagnosis in first 90 days after AF diagnosis with OR of 1.85. Moreover, in another study new-onset breast and colorectal cancer was especially associated with AF in the first 90 days after diagnosis with HR of 3.4 but not thereafter (HR 1.0). Similarly, Conen et al. reported high relative risk of cancer with HR of 3.54 in the first 3 months after new-onset AFib. However, beyond the initial 90 day period, the risk of cancer in AFib is only slightly increased.

conclusionBased on our review, there appears to be an increase in risk of subsequent diagnosis of cancer in patients with AF, likely owing to the shared risk factors between the two conditions. While the results of this study raise interesting questions for future search, they are not currently strong enough to justify initiating cancer screening for an occult cancer in a patient with AF. Regardless, measures to target modification of these shared risk factors remains an important consideration.

Indexed as

Atrial fibrillationcancer(s)malignancy(ies)neoplasm(s)

Identifiers

PMID32850047
PMCPMC7425610
OpenAlexW3026881491

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.