Profs Find New Link To Cardiac Disease

Researchers at two Harvard teaching hospitals have uncovered a link between the most common form of prostate cancer treatment and a greater risk of mortality owing to cardiac complications in men over 65 who are suffering in the advanced stages of the disease.

In the United States, prostate cancer is currently the second most prevalent cause of death owing to cancer in men, according to statistics published by the National Cancer Institute.

Preliminary findings of the study presented at the Prostate Cancer Symposium in Orlando, Fla., last month concluded that men suffering from prostate cancer undergoing the treatment, known as androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), are nearly 3 percent more likely to die of heart failure compared with those who do not receive the treatment.

The study’s lead author, Henry K. Tsai, said that “a clinical trial will certainly be needed to confirm the results.”

“Although a correlation does exist, the percentages are very small,” sadi Tsai, who is a resident physician at Dana-Farber, Brigham and Women’s, and the Harvard Radiation Oncology Program.

Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women’s, Hospital and other institutions compared the number of cardiac-related deaths among 735 men with localized prostate cancer who have received ADT and 2,901 men who have not by drawing on information provided by the Cancer of the Prostate Strategic Urologic Research Endeavor, or CaPSURE, a national registry of men with prostate cancer.

Tsai said the research marks a new field in the quest to provide better treatment for prostate cancer patients.

According to Tsai, ADT helps to lower the amount of male hormones in the body and should work to stunt the growth of prostate cancer. However, the treatment also has widely known health risks.

“It is well known that ADT leads to weight gain through increased body fat deposits as well as diabetes. All of these raise the risk of heart disease,” Tsai said.

He also said the study does not conclude that ADT should be abolished.

“The results show that doctors need to monitor their patients more carefully,” Tsai said. “ADT is a fine treatment if given to the right people, for the right amount of time, and for the right indications.”

Tsai expressed enthusiasm that future research will help create better and more personalized treatments for patients.