Abstract LB128: Cardiovascular disease mortality among cancer survivors by race and ethnicity in the United States
Authors: Nisotel Lauren , Siegel Rebecca L. , Yang Eric H. , Jemal Ahmedin , Sung Hyuna 
Published: April 2023

Background Cancer survivors have higher cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality than the general population but comprehensive data by race and ethnicity are limited.

Methods Data from 17 Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registries were used to identify adults diagnosed with invasive cancer at ages ≥20 years from 2000 to 2018. CVD mortality was calculated for five mutually exclusive race/ethnicity categories (non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native [AIAN], non-Hispanic Asian or Pacific Islander [API], Hispanic, non-Hispanic Black [Black], and non-Hispanic White [White]). Standardized mortality ratios (SMR) were estimated to compare mortality rates in cancer survivors to their counterparts in the general population. Analyses were stratified by demographic factors, CVD subtype, and cancer site.

Results During a mean follow up of 5.3 person-years among 5,786,876 survivors (20-64 years, 49.3%; men, 51.2%; White, 71.7%; Black, 10.1%; Hispanic, 10.9%; API, 7%, AIAN, 0.3%), 358,970 CVD deaths (cardiac death, 76.9%; cerebrovascular death, 15.9%) occurred. CVD mortality per 10,000 person-years was highest among survivors who were Black (122.9), followed by White (114.7), AIAN (86.7), API (78.6) and Hispanic (75.3). In contrast, SMRs were greatest among AIAN survivors (SMR=1.42, 95% CI=1.32-1.51), followed by API (SMR=1.39, 1.37-1.41), Hispanic (SMR=1.29, 1.27-1.30), Black (SMR=1.19, 1.17-1.20) and White (SMR=1.08, 1.07-1.08) survivors. Among survivors ages 20-64 years, Black survivors were approximately three times as likely to die from cardiac death as Hispanic or API survivors (46.7 vs. 14.5-17.6 per 10,000). SMR, however, was 1.47 among Hispanic survivors (95% CI=1.42-1.51) and 1.80 among API survivors (95% CI=1.42-1.51), greater than 1.25 among Black survivors (95% CI=1.22-1.27). Across cancer types, the highest SMR was among API survivors of pancreatic cancer (SMR=5.27, 3.83-7.08) and brain cancer (SMR=4.56, 3.10-6.48) in ages 20-64 years and among Hispanic (SMR=3.77, 3.09-4.56) and API survivors of brain cancer (SMR=3.24, 2.40-4.28) in ages ≥65 years.

Conclusion Black survivors had the greatest CVD mortality of all groups, demonstrating that CVD health disparities in the general population extend to cancer survivors. Despite the lower absolute mortalities, relative risks compared to their counterparts in the general population were greatest among API and Hispanic survivors, implying a greater impact of cancer diagnosis on the risk of CVD death among survivors of these populations. Targeted primary care and cardio-oncologic intervention strategies are needed to improve CVD outcomes and achieve cardiovascular health equity among cancer survivors.

Citation Format: Lauren Nisotel, Rebecca L. Siegel, Eric H. Yang, Ahmedin Jemal, Hyuna Sung. Cardiovascular disease mortality among cancer survivors by race and ethnicity in the United States [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 2 (Clinical Trials and Late-Breaking Research); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(8_Suppl):Abstract nr LB128.