Early Outcomes of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Patients with Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Chemotherapeutic regimens have cardiotoxic properties and thorax irradiation is associated with accelerated coronary artery disease (CAD). There is limited data regarding the influence of cancer on outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), as cancer patients were not routinely included in the PCI trials. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare the early outcomes of PCI between patients with active/historical cancer and patients without a cancer history. A systematic search was made in the PubMed, Medline, and Cochrane databases using the search terms “PCI” and “Cancer”. The major outcomes were in-hospital mortality, in-hospital cardiovascular mortality, 30-day mortality, and peri-procedural complications. We used random effects model to aggregate data and calculate pooled incidence and risk ratios with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). A total of 7 studies were included, out of which 4 studies reported in-hospital mortality. Compared to patients without cancer, patients with active/historical cancer undergoing PCI had higher rates of in-hospital mortality (relative risk [RR] 1.89; 95% CI 1.33-2.70; P = 0.0004), in-hospital cardiovascular mortality (RR 2.21; 95% CI 1.19-4.08; P = 0.01), 30-day mortality (RR 2.01; 95% CI 1.24-3.27; P = 0.005), and peri-procedural blood transfusion (RR 1.73; 95% CI 1.02-2.95; P = 0.04). There were no significant differences in peri-procedural myocardial re-infarction, new-onset heart failure, shock, and stroke between the two cohorts. In conclusion, Among patients undergoing PCI, active/historical cancer was associated with worse early mortality compared to patients without a history of cancer. Management of cancer patients undergoing PCI should be individualized and involve multi-specialist team discussion to narrow the mortality gap.