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Cardiac arrest

Cancer markedly raises OHCA risk

Increased Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Risk in Cancer: Evidence From 800,000 Patients and 3.7 Million Controls
JACC. Advances · 2026-10-05 · Added 7 October 2026

Swedish matched cohort of ~800,000 cancer patients and 3.7 million controls found cancer carried a 55% higher hazard of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (aHR 1.55), with the greatest short-term excess in lung and neurological cancers.

Study type

Cohort

Design

Population-based matched cohort

Participants

~800,000 adults with cancer and 3.7 million matched controls

Main finding

55% higher hazard of OHCA with cancer (adjusted HR 1.55, 95% CI 1.50–1.60); roughly 6-fold short-term hazard with lung and neurological cancers, strongest within the first year after diagnosis

Caveat

Register-based — no detail on arrest circumstances, resuscitation quality, or functional outcomes

Bottom line

Context only

Learning goal

Recognise which cancer patients face heightened risk of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, particularly around the time of diagnosis.

More

• Topic: Cardiac arrest
• Daily scan: 7 October 2026
• Podcast: Paramedic Papers Daily, 7 October 2026

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