Did you know that there’s a big overlap between heart health and cancer?
Specifically, people who have head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), a type of cancer, often also have heart-related issues.
This link was highlighted in a new study published online in the journal JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery on June 22.
The researchers, led by Dr. Lova Sun from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, explored how cardiovascular (heart and blood vessel) risk profiles, stroke, heart attack, and death relate to patients with HNSCC.
The Findings of the Study
The study used data from 35,857 U.S. veterans. It found that many of these cancer patients were taking medications to lower their heart-related risks.
But even so, almost half of them had at least one heart-related risk factor that wasn’t under control.
One interesting finding was that being Black was linked with a higher chance of having uncontrolled heart-related risk factors.
Patients with cancer in the larynx (the voice box) had higher rates of uncontrolled risk factors compared to patients with other types of cancer.
The research also showed that over a 10-year period, 12.5% of the patients had a stroke, and 8.3% had a heart attack. The researchers took into account that some patients died during this period.
Several conditions were significantly linked with having a stroke or heart attack.
These conditions included high blood pressure, diabetes, narrowing of the carotid arteries (major blood vessels in the neck), and coronary artery disease (narrowing of the heart’s blood vessels).
Having a stroke or heart attack was linked with a higher risk of death from any cause. Specifically, having a stroke was linked with a 47% higher risk, and having a heart attack was linked with a 71% higher risk.
What Does This Mean for Patients?
The findings from this study underscore the importance of managing heart-related risks in patients with head and neck cancer.
Over the past few decades, these patients’ prognosis has improved due to advancements in cancer treatments.
However, there’s a need to better understand and address heart health in these patients to further improve their long-term outcomes.
So if you or a loved one have head and neck cancer, it might be worth discussing heart health with your healthcare provider.
You might need to manage conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes, or you might need to make lifestyle changes to lower your risk of heart issues.
It’s important to note that some of the researchers in this study reported connections to the pharmaceutical industry. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the findings are biased, but it’s something to keep in mind.
If you care about cancer, please read studies that a low-carb diet could increase overall cancer risk, and can vitamin D help prevent or treat cancer?
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The study was published in JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery.
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