Prostate Cancer Treatment May Up Heart Risks

(February 2, 2010) - A new advisory says that prostate cancer (Read about "The Prostate") patients and their doctors should be aware that certain treatments increase the risks of having a heart attack. (Read about "Heart Attack") Androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT), commonly used to treat prostate cancer, can worsen heart risk factors (Read about "Heart Risks") and may increase the risk of heart attack and/or cardiac death, although the relationship between ADT and heart attack or cardiac death has not been definitively established, according to a science advisory published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

The advisory, produced by a writing group of experts from the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, American Urological Association and American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, is an evaluation of published research about the relationship between ADT and cardiovascular events and risk factors in patients with prostate cancer.

Considerable data show that ADT can increase fat mass, increase low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol - the "bad" cholesterol - and cause blood sugar abnormalities, according to the writing group. (Read about "Cholesterol")

"Based on current data, it was appropriate to conclude that there may be a relationship between ADT therapy in patients with prostate cancer and future cardiovascular risk," said Glenn N. Levine, M.D., chair of the advisory writing group.

An increased risk with ADT was noted in 1 percent to 6 percent of the study populations. Thus, "while there may be some increased heart risk, the decision about whether to initiate ADT should be based on weighing the benefits of therapy with this potential modest risk," he said.