One of the potential side effects of ADT is increased risk of cardiovascular disease. However, whether ADT is associated with elevated risk of heart failure, in particular, has not been consistently demonstrated in the literature. A recent study out of Taiwan used data from the Taiwan Longitudinal Health Insurance Database to investigate this question further.
Data from 1,244 prostate cancer patients who had received ADT, and 1,806 prostate cancer patients who had not received ADT were used in this matched cohort study. Each prostate cancer patient was tracked for 1 year to identify individuals who were newly diagnosed with heart failure. The researchers then looked at the incidence rates of heart failure for each group of patients within this 1-year follow-up time period.
After employing various statistical techniques to reduce potential biases in the data, the researchers found that men who received ADT were indeed at a higher risk of heart failure when compared to men who had not received ADT.
Conclusions:
- In this sample of prostate cancer patients from Taiwan, ADT was associated with elevated risk of heart failure
- The study authors note that these findings don’t necessarily “alter the benefit-risk balance” of ADT, as the benefits of ADT may outweigh the potential risks of heart failure.
- The authors suggest that clinicians should provide patients with information about modifiable risk factors for heart failure. If men who are on ADT are equipped with knowledge of the factors that contribute to cardiovascular disease and heart failure, they can make lifestyle changes to lower that risk.
To read the abstract for this study, see:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=10.1002%2Fjcph.1332
Kao, H. H., Kao, L. T., Li, I H., Pan, K. T., Shih, J. H., Chou, Y. C., & Wu, S. T. (2018). Androgen deprivation therapy use increases the risk of heart failure in patients with prostate cancer: A population-based cohort study. Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 0(0), 1-9. doi: 10.1002/jcph.1332