Archive · 5 Jan 2026
Cancer Patients Face Higher Heart Disease Mortality Risk
A new study found that people with cancer are more likely to die from heart problems.
The researchers looked at a large group of people, some with cancer and some without, to see how cancer affects the risk of dying from heart disease.
They found that cancer patients, especially younger ones, need to pay attention to their heart health.
The study also identified several risk factors like age, smoking, and blood pressure that can increase the chance of heart problems.
Interestingly, the risk of dying from heart disease is similar for cancer patients and non-cancer patients for the first 10 years, but it gets much worse for cancer patients after that.
The researchers think this might be because cancer treatments help reduce inflammation and other issues that can harm the heart.
Cancer patients have a higher risk of dying from cardiovascular diseases, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
The study identified nine independent risk factors for cardiovascular death, including age, sex, smoking, BMI, blood pressure, HbA1c, cystatin C, and neutrophil count.
The risk of cardiovascular mortality is comparable between cancer and non-cancer patients for the first 10 years but declines more sharply for cancer patients thereafter.
The study found limited shared genetic variations between cancer and cardiovascular conditions, such as hypertension and cardiac dysrhythmias.
Researchers emphasized the need to manage endocrine, kidney, and inflammation-related risk factors in cancer patients to reduce cardiovascular mortality.
- Who
- Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences
- What
- Study on cardiovascular mortality risk in cancer patients
- When
- Study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association
- Where
- China (researchers), global implications
- Why
- To investigate the association between cancer diagnosis and cardiovascular mortality and explore potential mechanisms
- Study Source
- Journal of the American Heart Association
- Participants
- 379,944 (65,047 with cancer)
- Key Risk Factors
- Age, sex, smoking, BMI, blood pressure, HbA1c, cystatin C, neutrophil count
- Shared Genetic Variations
- Limited (e.g., hypertension, cardiac dysrhythmias)
- Survival Probability
- Comparable for first 10 years, declines sharply thereafter for cancer patients