NHANES: Nearly half of cancer survivors died from other conditions

Almost half of the cancer survivors evaluated in a recent study died from conditions other than cancer, such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.

The results suggest cancer survivors could benefit from a more comprehensive approach to their health, researchers said.

“After the detection of cancer, clinicians and cancer survivors pay less attention to the prevention and treatment of other diseases and complications,” lead researcher Yi Ning, MD, ScD, assistant professor in the department of epidemiology and community health at Virginia Commonwealth University and associate research member at VCU Massey Cancer Center in Richmond, Va., said in a press release. “We shouldn’t neglect other aspects of health because we are focused on cancer and overlook other chronic conditions.”

Ning and colleagues evaluated 1,807 cancer survivors who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) study from 1988-1994 and 1999-2004. Those who were aged younger than 18 years, as well as those with skin cancer, were excluded.

Nearly 58% (n=1,046) of participants were female. The most common types of cancer reported were prostate (n=165), breast (n=141) and colorectal (n=117).

“We realized that the mortality rates for some types of cancer, such as breast cancer, had declined,” Ning said. “Cancer survivors live much longer than they did several decades ago. So with this large group of cancer survivors, we need to pay more attention to cancer survivors’ overall health.”

A large percentage of the participants surveyed reported suffering from other health problems such as diabetes (17.7% of men, 26.5% of women), cardiovascular conditions (63.2% of men, 66.9% of women), hypertension (58.7% of men, 62.9% of women) and hypercholesterolemia (61.3% of men, 70.5% of women), the researchers said.

Follow-up ranged from 0 to 17.3 years, during which 776 of the cancer survivors died. Using the National Death Index, the researchers determined approximately 41.8% died from cancer, while 48.9% died from disease not related to cancer, the researchers said. About 9.3% died from indeterminate causes.

The chances a survivor would die from something other than cancer increased with time since cancer diagnosis, ranging from 23.3% within 5 years to 72.1% for more than 30 years (P<.001), study results showed.

“In the past decade, with the application of advanced scientific and medical technologies for cancer early detection, prevention and treatment, cancer survivors are now living much longer and do not [always] die from cancer,” the researchers wrote. “Therefore, [it] becomes increasingly important to understand major causes of death among cancer survivors to improve [their] quality of life and prolong life expectancy.”

For more information:

Ning Y. LB #339. Presented at: the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2012; March 31-April 4, 2012;Chicago.