Many cancer patients and survivors die from heart disease, not tumors, especially those with breast and prostate cancer, according to a US study.
The researchers examined the data of more than 3.2 million cancer patients diagnosed between 1973 and 2012. During this period, 38% died of cancer and 11% died of cardiovascular disease.
In particular, three out of four people died of cardiovascular disease.
The risk of dying from cardiovascular disease peaked the year after the diagnosis of cancer, and among patients diagnosed before age 35.
"These findings show that a large proportion of patients with certain cancers die from cardiovascular disease, including cardiovascular disease, stroke, aneurysm, hypertension and vascular damage," said Kathleen Sturgeon of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Hershey. "We also found that the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease is 10 times higher in survivors of any cancer diagnosed before the age of 55, compared to others," she said.
The study looked at 28 cancers, and concluded that most deaths from cardiovascular disease were those diagnosed with common types of malignant tumors such as breast and prostate cancers, although they are good cancers.
Malignant tumors, not cardiovascular diseases, are the most common cause of death among patients with the most severe cancers, such as lung, liver, brain, stomach, gallbladder, pancreas, esophagus and ovaries.
The proportion of people dying from heart disease and other diseases is likely to increase, the researchers wrote in the European Journal of Cardiology, while new treatments help cancer patients live longer.
Side effects of cancer treatment can make survivors vulnerable to heart disease, especially in the year or two following the diagnosis of cancer. Older chemotherapy regimens can weaken the heart muscle, and new targeted therapies can lead to heart failure, for example, they note.
- Side effects of treatment
Can weaken
Particular heart.