How Are Prostate Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease Related?

Prostate cancer and CVD are related. In this video, Dr. Christopher Vaughn, Host of Cancer Shop Talk: Behind the Diagnosis with Dr. Vaughn, explains how.

Transcript

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Cardiovascular diseases, or CVDs, and prostate cancer are related in that many with prostate cancer are treated with what's called androgen deprivation therapy.

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This may put them at increased risk for cardiovascular diseases. We're still figuring out how exactly ADT affects

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risk of cardiovascular disease. There is data to suggest an association between 80t and increases in low-density lipoproteins,

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triglyceride levels, and fat. With decreases in lean body mass, these may accelerate the development of atherosclerosis.

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Your doctor will look at many things to determine your risk for CVDs. Importantly, they want to take a look at the lifestyle you led before your diagnosis

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and your current risk. If you're a smoker, for instance, or don't get a lot of exercise, if you have a high body mass index, or BMI, or high blood pressure, high cholesterol,

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or diabetes. These all increase your risk for CVDs. It's especially important to consider CVD risk when treating prostate cancer because noncancer related

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deaths are the most common causes of mortality and prostate cancer. And of those, ischemic heart disease is the most common noncancer cause

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of death in patients with prostate cancer. Ischemic heart disease occurs when the heart isn't getting enough oxygen. This leads to poor heart muscle function,

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and can lead to heart failure or a heart attack. It's important that prostate cancer patients talk to their doctors to create a treatment plan to reduce

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the risk of CVDs as there are plenty of ways to do so, ranging from dietary changes to different prostate cancer

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treatments with less risk of CVDs. Talk to your doctor, and together you can come up with a plan that works best for you.