Long-term outcome and cancer incidence after lower extremity bypass surgery in patients with critical limb threatening ischemia

Purpose The influence of cancer development on long-term outcome after lower extremity bypass surgery in patients with critical limb threatening ischemia was investigated. Methods Patient survival and cancer incidence were recorded for 21,082 patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) stage III ( n = 5631; 26.7%) and stage IV ( n = 15,451; 73.3%) registered with the AOK health insurance company in Germany who underwent infrainguinal bypass surgery. All patients were preoperative and in their history cancer-free. Results After a median follow-up of 44 months, 25.6% of all patients developed cancer (Kaplan–Meier estimated), with no significant differences between patients with PAD stage III and IV (cancer incidence stage III 25.7%, stage IV 25.5%; p = 0.421). In the Cox regression analysis, male gender (HR 1.885; 95% CI 1.714–2.073, p