heart failure patients may face an increased risk of a range of different cancers, according to a massive new study that stresses the importance of regular screenings for the high-risk group.
the study,
published in the journal esc heart failure
, tracked 100,124 heart-failure patients in a german health database and compared them to the same number of individuals who did not suffer from the progressive, chronic condition. none of the participants had cancer at the beginning of the 10-year window of observation,
according to the new york times
. while the study controlled for age, sex, obesity and presence of diabetes, data was unavailable for a few other major risk factors, including socioeconomic status, smoking, alcohol consumption and physical activity.
by the end of the study, 25.7 per cent of heart failure patients — who can live for years with the condition — had developed some form of cancer, compared to just 16.2 per cent in the control group. the large nature of the study allowed researchers to contrast specific cancers: the heart failure group faced an increased risk of lung and other respiratory cancers (91 per cent greater), skin cancers (83 per cent) and colon, stomach and other cancers of the digestive system (75 per cent). the heart failure group also had double the risk of cancers of the lip, oral cavity and pharynx. women with heart failure faced an increased risk of genital cancers (86 per cent) and
breast cancer (67 per cent), and men had higher odds of genital cancer (52 per cent).
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