Impact of Cancer History on Temporal Changes in the Cardiopulmonary Exercise Test of Patients with Cardiovascular Disease

The elevated risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in cancer patients and survivors is likely the result of normal age-related pathologies coupled with the direct and indirect effects of cancer therapy that extend across multiple systems. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) on CVD patients with a history of cancer.

In this study, patients who had participated in the outpatient CR program were enrolled and were divided into 2 groups (cancer survivor group and no-cancer group) based on their history of cancer. The cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) was performed at the beginning (baseline) and at the end of the CR program (follow-up). The results of CPET at baseline and those at follow-up were analyzed retrospectively.

A total of 105 patients were analyzed in this study. The cancer survivor group had 25 patients, and the non-cancer group 80. At baseline, peak oxygen uptake (peak VO₂) (14.7 [11.9 to 17.6] mL/kg/minute versus 11.3 [9.7 to 14.7] mL/kg/minute; P = 0.003) was significantly lower in cancer survivors. The percent changes in peak VO₂ between baseline and follow-up were not significantly different between the 2 groups (7.9 % [−11.5 to 24.5] versus 9.4 % [−7.5 to 27.3] P = 0.520).

The percent changes in peak VO₂ of CR participants were not significantly different despite their cancer history.