America’s biggest killer might be fuel cancer deaths, a study suggests.
Ago by almost half of Americans adults, more than 120 million people, heart disease represents an umbrella of cardiovascular conditions such as high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, heart failure and stroke.
This claims almost 1 million lives every year, with a growing number of patients dying at the age of 30, 40 or 50.
Now researchers in Scotland have discovered an even scarier trend: people who suffer from heart disease may be at greater risk of developing and dying from cancer.
The team reviewed the health data of more than 20,000 people over two decades, analyzing rates of heart disease and cancer, as well as deaths from both conditions.
They found that men with heart disease were 70 percent more likely to develop cancer than men without the condition. In women, having heart disease increased the risk of cancer by about 60 percent.
In addition, men with heart disease were 50 percent more likely than women to die from cancer, which may be due to the fact that heart disease is more common in men and that this group has more cancer-promoting risk factors, such as obesity and smoking.
The team also delved into specific cancers and noted that lung, colon and esophageal cancers were the most common types found in the study, especially in men.
A study shows that people with heart disease are more likely to develop and die from various forms of cancer
“We found that men primarily had a higher incidence of both getting cancer and unfortunately dying from it, and this was particularly the case in people with cardiovascular disease,” said study author Dr Rosa Thuemmler, a researcher in diagnostic radiology at the University of Aberdeen.
‘Although the pattern was the same across all cancer subtypes, it was most pronounced in lung and oesophageal cancer.’
Lung, colon and esophageal cancer share some of the same risk factors as heart disease, such as smoking, obesity, physical inactivity and alcohol consumption, which may have contributed to these cancers being most common.
The study, published in the European Heart Journalfollowed 22,534 patients who had been cancer-free for an average of 26 years at baseline. About 57 percent were women and the average age was 59 years.
There were 10,889 participants who already had heart disease or developed it during the follow-up period.
Participants were followed until they died, discontinued follow-up, or until March 2022.
Researchers used medical records and death certificate information to identify heart disease and the following cancers: lung, colorectal, stomach, esophageal, non-melanoma skin cancer and other subtypes.
The team adjusted for risk factors such as ethnicity, socio-economic conditions, blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, body mass index, medications and fruit and vegetable intake.
The above graph from the study shows cancer incidence and mortality in men and women with and without heart disease. The left graph shows incidence, with each line corresponding to a different group, while the right shows mortality
They found that men with heart disease had a 17 percent risk of developing cancer at age 75, compared to 10 percent in men without the disease, a difference of 70 percent.
For women, those with heart disease at age 75 had a 13 percent risk of cancer, while those without the condition had an eight percent risk, a difference of 62 percent.
Men with heart disease were also 39 percent more likely to develop cancer and 51 percent more likely to die from it than women.
In addition, at age 75, men with heart disease had a three times greater risk of stomach and esophageal cancer, along with a 1.5 times greater risk of lung cancer, compared to women with heart disease.
The team believes this is the first study of its kind to identify how sex influences the relationship between heart disease and cancer.
In general, men have double the risk of cardiovascular disease compared to women.
‘We examined how men and women differed in their risk of cancer incidence and death over more than 25 years,’ said Dr Tiberiu Pana, co-study author and honorary early career clinical researcher at the University of Aberdeen.
‘We discovered that cancer incidence and mortality were higher in people with cardiovascular disease than in people without cardiovascular disease – a relationship we already knew a little about. However, looking at this large patient group over a very long period of time allowed us to investigate it more thoroughly.
‘We have identified clear differences between men and women across a range of factors in people with cardiovascular disease and all types of cancer.’
They believe the link between heart disease and cancer likely lies in shared risk factors such as smoking, obesity and alcohol consumption, and reducing these factors early could prevent the risk of developing both conditions.
“We need to better understand the driving force behind cancer development in these populations,” said Professor Mamas Mamas, author of the study and professor of cardiology at Keele University in England.
“Additionally, although cardio-oncology services have primarily focused on cancer patients preventing the development of cardiovascular disease, we need better pathways that can identify and prevent the development of cancer in patients with heart disease.”
