Older breast cancer survivors share same CVD risk as healthy women

Older long-term breast cancer survivors, initially diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer, have a cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk comparable to otherwise healthy women of similar ages, according to a study appearing in American Journal of Managed Care.

The researchers analyzed data on a cohort of breast cancer survivors ages 65 years old and up who were diagnosed with early stage breast cancer between 1990 and 1994 and a comparison group. They looked at data on CVD outcomes, demographics and comorbidities from the women’s medical records, supplemented with EHR data.

The study found that risk factors like very old age, smoking history, diabetes and hypertension all were more predictive of CVD risk than breast cancer history status.

Also, long-term prognosis in older breast cancer patients is affected by the management of preexisting conditions, and these may be best managed by primary care providers, study authors concluded.

“Management of comorbidities in survivors should not be different from that in the general population of older patients,” wrote Reina Haque, PhD, MPH, Kaiser Permanente, et al. “The transfer of cancer survivorship care to primary care settings is a challenge; however, careful attention to follow-up care of other chronic diseases in survivors may best be facilitated in coordinated healthcare systems.”

Read the entire study here.