Cancer antigen-125 and risk of atrial fibrillation: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Cheung A., Gong M., Bellanti R., Ali-Hasan-Al-Saegh S., Li G., Roig E., Núñez J., Stamos TD., Yilmaz MB., Hakki K., Wu WKK., Wong SH., Wong WT., Bazoukis G., Lampropoulos K., Tse LA., Zhao J., Lip GYH., Baranchuk A., Wong MCS., Liu T., Tse G.
Background Cancer antigen-125 (Ca-125) is traditionally recognised as a tumour marker and its role in cardiovascular diseases has been studied only in recent years. Whether Ca-125 is elevated in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and its levels predict the risk of AF remains controversial. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the association between Ca-125 levels and AF. Methods PubMed and EMBASE databases were searched until 1 June 2017 for studies that evaluated the association between Ca-125 and AF. Inclusion criteria included studies that compare Ca-125 in patients with and without AF, or those reporting HRs/ORs for risk of AF stratified by Ca-125 levels. Results A total of 39 entries were retrieved from the databases, of which 10 studies were included in the final meta-analysis. Ca-125 was significantly higher in patients with AF compared with those in sinus rhythm (mean difference=16 U/mL, 95% CI 2 to 30 U/mL, P<0.05; I2: 98%). Ca-125 significantly increased the risk of AF (HR: 1.39, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.82, P<0.05; I2: 84%). Conclusion Ca-125 was significantly higher in patients with AF than in those in sinus rhythm, and high Ca-125 is predictive of AF occurrence. However, the high heterogeneity observed means there is an uncertainty in the relationship between Ca-125 and AF, which needs to be confirmed by larger prospective studies.