Link found between heart disease and cancer (Image: Getty)
University scientists probing the alarming link between heart disease and cancer deaths have shockingly discovered that men are at greatest risk. The British Heart Foundation estimates over 8 million people live with cardiovascular disease in the UK and it causes around a quarter (26 per cent) of all UK deaths – about one every three minutes.
While a link between cardiovascular disease and cancer is already known, it was not previously proven that this relationship differed between the sexes. Researchers from Keele University and the University of Aberdeen analysed data from over 20,000 people over 25-years to identify gender differences in health outcomes for those living with cardiovascular disease, such as atrial fibrillation, heart failure, stroke and vascular dementia.
Published in the European Heart Journal, their findings show that men with cardiovascular disease are at higher risk of cancer and death from cancer than women across all cancer subtypes, with lung cancer and colorectal cancers accounting for the highest risk.
This is the first study to identify how sex affects the relationship between CVD and cancer, and it could now inform public health strategies to achieve a more equal health outcomes between men and women.
Dr Tiberiu Pana, Specialty Registrar in Cardiology at NHS Grampian and Honorary Early Career Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Aberdeen, said: “We examined how men and women differed in in their risk of cancer incidence and death over more than 25 years.
“We found that cancer incidence and death were higher in people with cardiovascular disease than in those without – a relationship we already knew a bit about.
“However, through looking at this large patient group over a very long period of time we were able to examine it more thoroughly.
“We have identified clear differences between men and women across a range of factors in those with cardiovascular disease and all types of cancer.
“We found that men had a higher incidence of both getting cancer in the first place and sadly, also in dying from it, and this was particularly true among people with cardiovascular disease.
“Although the pattern was the same across all subtypes of cancer, this was most pronounced in lung and oesophageal cancers.”
Cardiovascular disease includes atrial fibrillation, heart failure, stroke and vascular dementia. (Image: Getty)
The team suggest the link between cardiovascular disease and cancer is likely enabled through negative lifestyle risk factors, such as smoking, obesity and alcohol consumption.
Researchers said therefore it is important to target these risks as early as possible to avoid the heart disease or cancer.
Professor Mamas Mamas, Professor of Cardiology at Keele University, said it is now becoming evident that patients with cardiovascular risk are at increased risk of cancer, with important sex differences in cancer types.
He said: “We need to better understand the driver of cancer development in these populations.
“Furthermore, while cardio-oncology services have focussed mainly on cancer patients preventing the development of cardiovascular diseases, we need better pathways that can identify and prevent cancer development in patients with cardiac conditions.”
Professor Phyo Myint, Chair in Old Age Medicine at the University of Aberdeen led the research.
The team examined the health records of some 22,534 people in the UK over a 25-year period using the EPIC-Norfolk database.
The EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer) Norfolk study is a population-based study, co-ordinated by a management team based at the IMS Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge.
Professor Myint proposes incorporating early cardiovascular disease screening as a cancer preventative strategy, particularly in men, given the results of this study.
He added: “More needs to be done to improve risk management, targeted screening and prevention to address this health inequality.”
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
