Table 1.
Baseline characteristics.
| Variable | Healthy Controls (n = 35) |
Cancer Patients (n = 261) |
p-Value | Cancer Deaths (n = 158) |
Cancer Survivors (n = 103) |
p-Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical characteristics | ||||||
| Age (years) | 68 ± 6 (IQR 62–73) | 68 ± 12 (IQR 61–76) | 0.86 | 69 ± 10 (IQR 62–75) | 65 ± 17 (IQR 58–76) | 0.016 |
| Female sex, n (%) | 19 (54) | 132 (51) | 0.68 | 76 (48) | 56 (54) | 0.32 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 26 ± 4 | 24 ± 5 | 0.28 | 25 ± 5 | 26 ± 5 | 0.049 |
| Cancer stage ≥III, n (%) | – | 188 (72) | – | 123 (78) | 65 (63) | 0.0095 |
| Cancer type: solid, n (%) | – | 129 (49) | – | 93 (59) | 36 (35) | 0.0002 |
| ECOG performance status ≥2, n (%) | – | 111 (43) | – | 75 (47) | 36 (35) | 0.046 |
| Prior potentially cardiotoxic anti-cancer drugs, n (%) | – | 162 (62) | – | 104 (66) | 58 (56) | 0.12 |
| Left ventricular ejection fraction (%) | 64 ± 7 | 65 ± 7 (n = 181) | 0.81 | 64 ± 8 (n = 100) | 65 ± 7 (n = 81) | 0.27 |
| Laboratory parameters | ||||||
| Haemoglobin (g/dL) | 14.2 ± 1.3 | 10.8 ± 2.0 | <0.0001 | 10.6 ± 1.9 | 11.1 ± 2.1 | 0.040 |
| Leucocytes (/nL) | 6.6 (5.5–7.6) | 6.5 (4.3-9.6) | 0.99 | 6.9 (4.4–9.9) | 6.1 (4.3–9.2) | 0.40 |
| Platelets (/nL) | 227 ± 46 | 225 ± 166 | 0.97 | 231 ± 195 | 217 ± 108 | 0.48 |
| Sodium (mmol/L) | 141 ± 2 | 139 ± 4 | 0.0002 | 138 ± 4 | 140 ± 3 | 0.0027 |
| Potassium (mmol/L) | 4.2 ± 0.4 | 3.9 ± 0.5 | 0.0004 | 3.9 ± 0.5 | 3.9 ± 0.5 | 0.91 |
| Creatinine (mg/dL) | 0.87 ± 0.19 | 1.00 ± 0.59 | 0.22 | 1.03 ± 0.68 | 0.94 ± 0.40 | 0.23 |
| GOT (U/L) | 26 (22–28) | 26 (19-37) (n = 171) | 0.75 | 27 (19–39) (n = 101) | 25 (19–34) (n = 70) | 0.34 |
| Secondary diagnoses | ||||||
| Arterial hypertension, n (%) | 7 (20) | 132 (51) | 0.0007 | 79 (50) | 53 (51) | 0.82 |
| Coronary artery disease, (%) | 0 | 34 (13) | 0.0040 | 22 (14) | 12 (12) | 0.59 |
| Atrial fibrillation, n (%) | 0 | 14 (5) | 0.08 | 8 (5) | 6 (6) | 0.79 |
| Previous myocardial infarction, n (%) | 0 | 20 (8) | 0.033 | 13 (8) | 7 (7) | 0.67 |
| Diabetes mellitus type 2, n (%) | 0 | 50 (19) | 0.0003 | 31 (20) | 19 (18) | 0.81 |
| Chronic kidney disease, n (%) | 0 | 41 (16) | 0.0014 | 28 (18) | 13 (13) | 0.27 |
| Previous stroke, n (%) | 0 | 27 (10) | 0.011 | 17 (11) | 10 (10) | 0.79 |
| Current use of antibiotics, n (%) | 0 | 45 (17) | 0.0007 | 33 (21) | 12 (12) | 0.054 |
| 24 h-ECG | ||||||
| Average 24 h heart rate (bpm) | 70 ± 9 | 78 ± 14 | 0.0007 | 79 ± 16 | 77 ± 11 | 0.41 |
| No. of premature atrial contractions/24 h | 82 (27–302) | 195 (27–1167) | 0.22 | 227 (32–1226) | 146 (24–761) | 0.20 |
| No. of premature ventricular contractions/24 h | 9 (1–43) | 26 (2–360) | 0.06 | 54 (4–467) | 12 (1–280) | 0.013 |
| ≥20 Premature ventricular contractions/24 h, n (%) | 13 (37) | 139 (53) | 0.07 | 95 (60) | 44 (43) | 0.0059 |
| ≥50 Premature ventricular contractions/24 h, n (%) | 8 (23) | 117 (45) | 0.013 | 80 (51) | 37 (36) | 0.020 |
| NSVT with ≥3 beats & ≥100 bpm, n (%) | 0 | 44 (17) | 0.0008 | 31 (20) | 13 (13) | 0.14 |
| NSVT with ≥4 beats & ≥100 bpm, n (%) | 0 | 25 (10) | 0.016 | 21 (13) | 4 (4) | 0.0066 |
Values are means ± SD, or n (%), or for abnormal distributed data median and Interquartile Range (IQR). Significant p-values (p < 0.05) are bold. 24 h, 24 hour; bpm, beats per minute; BMI, body mass index; ECOG, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group; GOT, glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase; No. of premature atrial contractions/24 h, total number of premature atrial contractions recorded per 24 h; No. of premature ventricular contractions/24 h, total number of premature ventricular contractions recorded per 24 h; NSVT, non-sustained ventricular tachycardia; mmol/L, millimoles per litre; g/dL, grams per decilitre; kg/m2, kilogram per square meter; U/L, Units per litre;/nL, per nanolitre; ms, milliseconds.