Abstract C015: Cardiovascular disease and health-related quality of life among African American and white cancer survivors

Abstract

Abstract Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is common among cancer survivors and is a leading cause of death among survivors of several forms of cancer. Race disparities exist in the prevalence of several forms of CVD, and these may have implications for the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of cancer survivors. The current study estimates the association between several forms of CVD and HRQOL among a diverse cohort of cancer survivors. Methods: This analysis was conducted using data from 979 participants (574 African American, 405 white) with female breast, colorectal, lung, or prostate cancer in the Detroit Research On Cancer Survivors (ROCS) pilot study who were diagnosed and/or treated at the Karmanos Cancer Center in Detroit, Michigan. The analyses were conducted using linear regression with binary measurements of five different forms of CVD included in the ROCS pilot survey (self-reported history of congestive heart failure (CHF), myocardial infarction (MI), hypertension, peripheral vascular disease (PVD), and stroke) as predictors of HRQOL measured using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy – General (FACT-G), controlling for demographic, socioeconomic, and cancer-related characteristics. We also tested for effect modification by race. Results: FACT-G scores were 2.2 (95% CI: -4.3, 0.0) points lower among cancer survivors who were diagnosed with any type of CVD compared to those who were not. This association did not differ by race (Pinteraction=0.25). FACT-G scores were somewhat lower among survivors diagnosed with hypertension [-1.9; 95% confidence interval (CI): -4.1, 0.1], MI (-4.1; 95% CI: -8.4, 0.2), CHF (-3.7; 95% CI: -8.2, 0.9), or stroke (-4.0; 95% CI: -8.5, 0.5); however, the magnitude of these differences was not clinically meaningful and the findings did not reach statistical significance. History of MI was associated with clinically meaningful differences in HRQOL among African American (-6.1; 95% CI: -11.3, -0.8) but not white survivors (-0.4, 95% CI: -7.9, 7.2; Pinteraction=0.15). Conclusions: Overall, any type of CVD was not associated with meaningful differences in HRQOL among cancer survivors. Our finding that history of MI was associated with clinically meaningful differences in HRQOL among African American survivors, but not white, could represent an opportunity for future efforts to improve survivors’ HRQOL. Citation Format: Jaclyn M. Kyko, Jennifer L. Beebe-Dimmer, Tara E. Baird, Ann G. Schwartz, Theresa A. Hastert. Cardiovascular disease and health-related quality of life among African American and white cancer survivors [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2019 Sep 20-23; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl_2):Abstract nr C015.