Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), including ischemic heart disease, stroke, and heart failure, are well-established late effects of therapy in survivors of childhood and young adult (< 40 years at diagnosis) cancers; less is known regarding CVD in long-term survivors of adult-onset (≥ 40 years) cancer.
A retrospective cohort study design was used to describe the magnitude of CVD risk in 36,232 ≥ 2-year survivors of adult-onset cancer compared with matched (age, sex, and residential ZIP code) noncancer controls (n = 73,545) within a large integrated managed care organization. Multivariable regression was used to examine the impact of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs; hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia) on long-term CVD risk in cancer survivors.
Survivors of multiple myeloma (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 1.70; P < .01), carcinoma of the lung/bronchus (IRR, 1.58; P < .01), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (IRR, 1.41; P < .01), and breast cancer (IRR, 1.13; P < .01) had significantly higher CVD risk when compared with noncancer controls. Conversely, prostate cancer survivors had a lower CVD risk (IRR, 0.89; P < .01) compared with controls. Cancer survivors with two or more CVRFs had the highest risk of CVD when compared with noncancer controls with less than two CVRFs (IRR, 1.83 to 2.59; P < .01). Eight-year overall survival was significantly worse among cancer survivors who developed CVD (60%) when compared with cancer survivors without CVD (81%; P < .01).