Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) may be associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) death in prostate cancer patients, according to a study published online in The Aging Male.
The retrospective cohort study led by Justinas Jonusas from the National Cancer Institute in Vilnius, Lithuania, examined the risk for CVD in 13, 343 prostate cancer patients aged 40-79 who exclusively used gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists.
The researchers found that patients receiving ADT had more than a two-fold increase in CVD death than patients who do not use ADT (hazard ratio, 2.14). This risk was higher in ADT users aged 70-79 (hazard ratio, 4.78). Furthermore, the researchers found that ADT users had an increased risk of death from ischemic heart disease and stroke (hazard ratios, 1.42 and 1.70, respectively).
When the risk of CVD-related death was assessed among different age groups, Justinas Jonusas and colleagues also observed an almost five-fold higher risk of CVD death in the 70–79 age group of ADT users. Compared to the reference male group, the risk was less among younger ADT users (60-69 years of age), although it was still more than two times greater overall.
Furthermore, the researchers assessed the risk of CVD death during the first five years of the patients being treated with ADT, and they found the risk of CVD death was higher from the first to the fourth year after a prostate cancer diagnosis. They also observed that the risk of death was not significantly increased in the first year after diagnosis compared to the second to fourth year.
“Our results suggest clinicians should consider risk reduction and mitigation strategies for cardiovascular disease when developing a treatment plan for men diagnosed with prostate cancer, particularly for older patients,” Jonusas said in a statement.
Source: HealthDay news
Journal source: The Aging Male
