Elevated heart disease risk faced by cancer survivors: Study

A new study has found that about 35 per cent of Americans with a cancer history had an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease in the next decade, compared with about 23 per cent of those who didn't have cancer.

Based on a risk calculator that estimates a person's 10-year chances of developing heart disease or stroke, researchers from The Ohio State University found that the average estimated 10-year risk for a cancer survivor was about 8 per cent, compared to 5 per cent, for those who didn't have a history of cancer.

The new study appears in the journal PLOS ONE.

"We know that obesity, cancer and cardiovascular disease share some common risk factors, and in addition to those shared risk factors, cancer patients also receive treatments including radiation and chemotherapy that can affect their cardiovascular health - we call that cardiotoxicity," said lead researcher Xiaochen Zhang, a PhD candidate in Ohio State's College of Public Health.