Even though endometrial cancer (EC) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) share risk factors (such as obesity), few studies have looked into the prevalence of CVD among EC survivors. Researchers set out to characterize the prevalence of CVD diagnoses in women aged 66 and up who had experienced EC vs. women of similar age who have not had cancer. This study used SEER-Medicare-linked data to identify women aged 66 and older who were diagnosed with EC between 2004 and 2017 (N = 44,386) and matched women without cancer (N = 221,219). The EC patient’s cancer diagnosis date was used as the index date for that collection of patients. Cardiovascular disease outcomes were defined in Medicare claims using ICD-9/10 diagnostic codes. The researchers used the prior year’s diagnosis codes to determine the prevalence of CVD for the index date. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression (HRs) was used to estimate hazard ratios for incident CVD diagnoses post-index date. Incidence analyses for cardiovascular diseases were not performed on women who already had a diagnosis. A larger percentage of women with EC were diagnosed with CVD as of the index date, compared to those without cancer. Surviving EC patients were more likely to develop ischemic heart disease (HR = 1.73; 95% CI: 1.69-1.78), pulmonary heart disease (HR = 1.95; 95% CI: 1.88-2.02), and venous and lymphatic diseases (HR = 2.71; 95% CI: 95% CI: 2.64-2.78), according to analyses with follow-up beginning 1 year after the index date. Women with EC had an increased risk of cardiovascular disease diagnoses within the first year after the index date. During EC treatment and long-term survivorship, it may be crucial to manage preexisting CVD and monitor for incident CVD.
Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0090825822005534
