Researchers in Australia studied over 285,000 U.S. patients diagnosed with cancer between 1998-2008 who died within four weeks of their diagnosis. "Our analysis of a large database showed that death from cardiac causes was more common in patients that had surgery for their primary tumor compared to patients that did not undergo surgery," lead author Dr. Mark Voskoboynik, said. The rate of death was doubled in the surgical patients, their research showed. 12% of those patients who underwent surgery died of cardiac problems, compared to 6% of those who didn't undergo an operation. The study did not address specific surgical risk nor did it distinguish between different types of cancer.