‘Smoking poses cardiovascular risks to cancer survivors’

A study conducted by researchers at Yonsei University College of Medicine has revealed that cancer survivors who smoke face a heightened risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

Smoking is recognized as a significant factor in the onset of cardiovascular diseases, including conditions like myocardial infarction, stroke, and cancer.

Nevertheless, the precise influence of smoking on the cardiovascular disease risk among cancer survivors remained unclear, particularly among those who have become immunocompromised following cancer treatment.

Given that earlier investigations have indicated that 51 percent of both active and passive smokers continue to smoke even post cancer diagnosis, a compelling requirement emerged for deeper exploration into the correlation between smoking and the risk of cardiovascular disease among individuals who have battled cancer.

The research team, led by Professors Kim Hyeon-chang and Lee Ho-kyou and Clinical Instructor Lee Hyeok-hee, compared and analyzed the incidence of cardiovascular disease in cancer survivors according to changes in smoking habits after cancer diagnosis based on the National Health Insurance Service data.

The study included more than 309,000 cancer survivors aged 20 and older who were diagnosed with cancer between 2006 and 2013 and underwent a national health examination before and after their cancer diagnosis.

The researchers divided the participants into four groups – those who have never smoked (252,102), new or relapse smokers (4,777), those who quit after diagnosis (31,121), and continued smokers (23,095)– and analyzed the risk of cardiovascular disease in each group.

The results showed that the risk of cardiovascular disease was 51 percent higher in the new or relapse smokers group than in the group that had never smoked.

Also, the risk of cardiovascular disease in the group that had never smoked was 36 percent lower than in the continued smoker group.

The researchers further analyzed that the risk of cardiovascular disease was not significantly lowered even when smoking was reduced by more than half, suggesting that quitting smoking is essential to prevent cardiovascular disease.

“Even after cancer is completely cured, many people continued or started smoking due to depression, but there has been a lack of concrete evidence to provide smoking cessation programs for cancer survivors,” Professor Kim said. “This study, which is the first to show that smoking increases the risk of cardiovascular disease in cancer survivors, is expected to help guide cancer survivors to quit smoking.”

European Heart Journal published the study results in its latest issue.