CHD risk elevated in survivors of thyroid cancer

Thyroid cancer survivors experience a heightened risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD) in the long term, a recent study has found.

The researchers conducted an observational cohort study of 4,274 thyroid cancer patients without CHD history, 4,343 patients without ischaemic stroke (IS) history, and 4,247 patients with atrial fibrillation history. Data were retrieved from the National Taiwan Cancer Registry Database and those with missing index data were excluded from the analysis.

Over a median follow-up of 3.5 years, 70 new CHD events occurred, while 30 did so for IS and 20 for AF. Compared with the age- and sex-matched standardized population, CHD patients were nearly 60 percent more likely to develop CHD (standardized incidence rate [SIR], 1.57, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.2–1.93).

In contrast, IS (SIR, 0.74, 95 percent CI, 0.47–1.0), cardiovascular disease (SIR, 0.88, 95 percent CI, 0.7–1.05), and AF (SIR, 0.74, 95 percent CI, 0.42–1.06) were not significantly elevated in thyroid cancer patients compared with standardized controls.

Of note, such CHD risk aggravation was much stronger in thyroid cancer patients aged <65 vs ≥65 years (SIR, 2.08, 95 percent CI, 1.5–2.66), and remained significantly elevated in both men (SIR, 1.63, 95 percent CI, 1.03–2.24) and women (SIR, 1.53, 95 percent CI, 1.06–1.99).

“Collectively, these findings support the important role of long-term cardiotoxicity prevention during management of thyroid cancer, particular for those who are young and at a low risk of recurrence,” the researchers said.

“Further research on the association between thyroid cancer and the odds of CHD, including factors such as diagnosis age, cancer characteristics, and management should be conducted,” they added.