Cardiovascular complications to treatment of prostate cancer with estramustine phosphate (Estracyt) or conventional estrogen. A follow-up of 212 randomized patients.

Two hundred and twelve patients treated for prostatic cancer grade I or II were investigated for cardiovascular complications. The patients were part of a multicentre study in the Stockholm area and had been randomized to treatment with either estramustine phosphate (Estracyt) or polyestradiol phosphate and ethinyl estradiol. Cardiovascular complications categorized as impaired arterial circulation including ischemic heart disease, venous thromboembolism, cardiac incompensation and cerebral depression were found to be equally frequent following the two different forms of treatment. Among the patients getting cardiovascular complications, these occurred within two months after the start of treatment in 50% and within one year in 85% of them. There was a statistically significant correlation between the incidence of cardiovascular complications and a history of previous cardiovascular disease. This criterion was however in retrospect found to predict cardiovascular complications in only 67 of the 126 patients getting one or several of these complications.