Millions of men living with heart disease face a significantly higher risk of developing and dying from cancer, according to a long-term study that tracked health data for over two decades.
Researchers from the University of Aberdeen and Keele University analyzed information from 22,000 British adults over a 25-year period. Roughly half of the participants — 11,000 people — either had cardiovascular disease (CVD) at the start of the study or developed it during the following three decades.
The analysis found that among those with CVD, the lifetime risk of cancer was 17.3% for men compared with 12.8% for women. For people without heart disease, the figures were 10.2% for men and 8.2% for women. The link was especially pronounced in lung and oesophageal cancers, and men with heart disease also showed elevated rates of gastric, bowel and non-melanoma skin cancers.
Men with CVD additionally had a higher risk of dying from gastric, oesophageal and lung cancers than those without heart disease. The researchers said this is likely driven by common risk factors shared between the two conditions, including smoking, obesity and heavy alcohol consumption.
Dr Tiberiu Pana, a cardiology registrar at NHS Grampian and honorary research fellow at the University of Aberdeen, said the study allowed the team to examine the relationship more thoroughly than before. “We have identified clear differences between men and women across a range of factors in those with cardiovascular disease and all types of cancer,” he said.
Mamas Mamas, a professor of cardiology at Keele University, said more work is needed to understand why cancer risk is higher in heart disease patients. He noted that while cardio-oncology services have mainly focused on preventing heart problems in cancer patients, better pathways are needed to identify and prevent cancer in people with cardiac conditions.
Nicola Smith, a senior health information manager at Cancer Research UK, said many causes of the two diseases overlap, which may explain the link. Both conditions are also more common in people from deprived areas. Cancer is slightly more likely to affect men, partly because smoking rates are higher, she added, though further research is needed to confirm the stronger association seen in men.
The study was published in the European Heart Journal.