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Male Thyroid Cancer Survivors Face Higher CVD Risk

Age at diagnosis, sex, BMI, and thyroid-stimulating hormone suppression therapy affect CVD risk

FRIDAY, June 1, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Male thyroid cancer survivors have a nearly 50 percent higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) than female survivors within five years of cancer diagnosis, according to a study published online May 29 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Jihye Park, M.S.P.H., from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, and colleagues evaluated the association between potential risk factors, treatment effects, and CVD outcomes in 3,822 thyroid cancer survivors (diagnosed between 1997 and 2012).

The researchers found that age and year at cancer diagnosis, cancer stage, sex, baseline body mass index (BMI), baseline comorbidities, and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) suppression therapy were significantly associated with CVD risk one to five years after cancer diagnosis. There was an increased risk of CVD among patients who were male, overweight or obese, older at cancer diagnosis, and diagnosed with cancer since 2005 versus patients who were female, normal BMI, younger at cancer diagnosis, and diagnosed with cancer between 1997 and 1999. Additionally, increased CVD risk among thyroid cancer survivors was associated with administration of TSH suppression therapy, distant metastases at cancer diagnosis, and higher Charlson Comorbidity Index score.

“Our findings suggest that examining the impact of thyroid cancer diagnosis, cancer treatment, and demographic characteristics on the risk of CVD is critical,” the authors write.

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