Abstract

Introduction: Despite recognized sex-difference in cardio-oncology, women are understudied due to lack of large and diverse data. The study examined atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk in women veterans with breast, colorectal, lung, and thyroid cancer using Veterans Affairs (VA) national Electronic Health Records (EHR) data. Hypothesis: Elevated ASCVD risk in women with breast, colorectal, lung and thyroid cancer after cancer diagnosis due to accumulated cardiotoxicity induced from cancer therapy. Methods: We retrospectively followed 78,556 women veterans aged 30-79 from 2007 to 2017. We used AHA/ACC ASCVD risk score and VA women CVD risk score to measure ASCVD risk over the study period. Both scores included age, systolic blood pressure (treated/untreated), total cholesterol and HDL-C, smoking status, diabetes, and major depression. The study selected the top four most common cancers among women veterans. Discontinuity regression models were used to estimate trajectories of ASCVD risk at both pre and post cancer periods. Results: Both pre- and post-cancer ASCVD risk in women with breast, colorectal, and lung cancer was significantly elevated compared to the no cancer group, while women with thyroid cancer had lower ASCVD risk during the pre-cancer diagnosis. All women veterans with cancer except colorectal cancer showed premature aging in ASCVD risk after cancer diagnosis (Figure 1). Conclusions: Women cancer survivors are at increased risk of ASCVD not only post-cancer, but also long before their cancer diagnosis. ASCVD risk monitoring and management in women may serve as shared risk reduction and cancer prevention along with heightened cancer screening.

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