Postmenopausal Women with Breast, Endometrial, and Ovarian Cancers Have an Increased Risk for Cardiovascular Conditions prior to Active Endocrine Therapy.

BACKGROUND

Patients with active cancer have an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) among cancer patients receiving endocrine therapy. However, little research has explored the distribution of CVD comorbidities and cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) among postmenopause women with breast, endometrial, or ovarian cancer prior to active treatment with endocrine therapy. We aimed to explore the distribution of CVD comorbidities and associated CVRF in patients suffering from breast, endometrial, or ovarian cancer prior to the use of endocrine therapy and to assess whether there was compliance with existing hospital recommendations, particularly on the use of lipid-lowering agents to prevent the development of CVD comorbidities in postmenopause women.

METHODS

A total of 10,731 postmenopause women with primary breast, endometrial, or ovarian cancer were enrolled between 30th May 2008 and 31st July 2021 from an electronic health record database at the first affiliated hospital of Dalian Medical University. Dyslipidemia was defined according to 2016 Chinese guidelines for adults. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify the independent predictors of CVD comorbidities in breast, endometrial, and ovarian cancers separately.

RESULTS

Overall, 18.9% of the included women had at least one CVD record before endocrine therapy. The highest prevalence of CVD was identified for hypertension (16.5%), followed by coronary heart disease (4.5%), stroke (2.1%), heart failure (1.2%), and atrial fibrillation (1.1%). The most common CVRF among total cancer patients was dyslipidemia, with a remarkable prevalence of 62.8%, followed by diabetes mellitus (8.6%). Notably, only 11.1% of cancer patients were receiving lipid-lowering agents.

CONCLUSION

Cancer patients with potential eligibility for endocrine therapy use had an increased risk for CVD comorbidities. Dyslipidemia was the common CVRF. Compliance with recommendations for preventing and managing these comorbidities requires serious attention.