Diagnosis and Management of Atrial Arrhythmias in Cancer Patients

Atrial arrhythmias are an increasingly recognized cardiovascular issue for cancer patients and can lead to increased morbidity and mortality independent of the oncologic prognosis. This review highlights the epidemiology of atrial arrhythmias in cancer patients including risk factors and arrhythmogenic cancer treatments as well as the current state of knowledge regarding the prevention and treatment of atrial arrhythmias in this population.

There appears to be bidirectional risk of atrial arrhythmias and cancer, with increased rates of atrial fibrillation identified in cancer patients but also increased cancer in patients with know atrial fibrillation. Moreover, as the cancer treatment landscape has continued to evolve, many novel treatments have been shown to be arrhythmogenic. Currently, the recommendations for the prevention and treatment of cancer associated arrhythmias are the same as the general population. Atrial arrhythmias are common in cancer patients due to multiple factors including shared risk factors and the cancer treatments themselves. Additional research is essential to better understand risk and also to provide cancer-specific recommendations for the prophylaxis and management of atrial arrhythmias and their associated thromboembolic complications.