Table 1. Baseline characteristics of the study subjects (n = 1045) according to the presence or absence of cancer.
| No cancer (n = 915) | Cancer (n = 130) | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years) | 51 ± 6 | 53 ± 5 | 0.008 |
| Sex (male), n (%) | 444 (48%) | 76 (58%) | 0.034 |
| Atrial fibrillation, n (%) | 80 (9%) | 25 (19%) | <0.001 |
| Study group (hypertensives), n (%) | 452 (49%) | 67 (52%) | 0.648 |
| Diabetics, n (%) | 98 (11%) | 8 (6%) | 0.107 |
| Coronary artery disease, n (%) | 74 (8%) | 12 (9%) | 0.718 |
| Systolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 148 ± 22 | 150 ± 22 | 0.344 |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 89 ± 12 | 90 ± 12 | 0.254 |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 27.7 ± 5 | 27.7 ± 4 | 0.911 |
| Waist circumference (cm) | 90 ± 13 | 92 ± 13 | 0.307 |
| Fasting glucose (mmol/l) | 4.8 ± 1.5 | 4.6 ± 1.0 | 0.239 |
| ANP (pmol/l) | 281 ± 169 | 283 ± 157 | 0.899 |
| Total cholesterol (mmol) | 5.7 ± 1.0 | 5.8 ± 1.1 | 0.439 |
| HDL-cholesterol (mmol/l) | 1.4 ± 0.4 | 1.3 ± 0.4 | 0.363 |
| LDL-cholesterol (mmol/l) | 3.5 ± 0.9 | 3.5 ± 1.0 | 0.803 |
| Triglycerides (mmol/l) | 1.6 ± 1.0 | 1.7 ± 1.3 | 0.242 |
| hs-CRP (mg/l) | 3.6 ± 6.8 | 4.9 ± 11.1 | 0.074 |
| ALT (U/l) | 32 ± 24 | 31 ± 16 | 0.653 |
| Creatinine (μmol/l) | 82 ± 33 | 83 ± 15 | 0.734 |
| Alcohol (g/week) | 60 ± 90 | 67 ± 88 | 0.383 |
| Smoking (pack years) | 9 ± 14 | 13 ± 15 | 0.003 |
| IMT (mm) | 0.87 ± 0.18 | 0.91 ± 0.22 | 0.033 |
| Left atrial diameter (mm) | 39 ± 5 | 40 ± 5 | 0.021 |
| β-blockers, n (%) | 250 (27%) | 36 (28%) | 0.929 |
| Calcium blockers, n (%) | 109 (12%) | 19 (15%) | 0.379 |
| ACE-inhibitors, n (%) | 174 (19%) | 30 (23%) | 0.274 |
| Diuretic drugs, n (%) | 144 (16%) 4% |
28 (22%) | 0.095 |
| Digitalis, n (%) | 19 (2%) | 5 (4%) | 0.208 |
| Lipid lowering drugs, n (%) | 27 (3%) | 3 (2%) | 0.681 |
| Aspirin, n (%) | 51 (6%) | 7 (5%) | 0.930 |
The values are means ± SD, absolute numbers with percentages or percentages alone. The medication data is expressed as number of subjects and percentages. Differences were tested by the ANOVA test for continuous variables and Pearson Chi-Squared test for categorical variables. ANP, atrial natriuretic peptide; hs-CRP, high-sensitive C-reactive protein; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; IMT, intima-media thickness; ACE, angiotensin converting enzyme.