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A growing number of heart patients are being diagnosed with cancer, according to a new study. While people with heart failure are surviving more often with heart conditions, new research reveals that they are increasingly more likely to develop cancer. 

Researchers said this worrying trend could be caused by increased surveillance, side effects of treatment or other causes, according to the study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

"Heart failure patients are not only at an increased risk for developing cancer, but the occurrence of cancer increases mortality in these patients," co-author Dr. Veronique Roger, director of the Mayo Clinic Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery, said in a news release. "These findings underscore the importance of cancer surveillance in the management of heart failure patients."

Roger and her team looked at medical records from the Rochester Epidemiology Project, which links the inpatient and outpatient records from all providers used by the population of Olmstead County, Minnesota. The study included 596 patients with heart failure paired with the same number of similar healthy subjects.

Researchers looked at two 11-year time periods. Patients diagnosed with heart failure between 1979 and 1990 had a 48 percent increased risk of cancer while patients diagnosed between 1991 and 2002 had an 86 percent increased risk.

Researchers say the findings suggest several possible causes for the increased cancer risk in heart failure patients including side effects of cardiovascular treatments, or stress from illness or other mechanisms associated with the physiology of heart failure such as inflammation.

In light of the latest findings, researchers recommend that heart patients be monitored closely for signs of cancer.

"These findings also illustrate the importance of multi-morbidity among patients living with chronic diseases and support the concept of providing holistic rather than disease-based care," the authors wrote.