ASSOCIATION BETWEEN CORONARY HEART-DISEASE AND CANCERS OF THE BREAST,PROSTATE, AND COLON

Coronary heart disease (CHD) and cancers of the breast, prostate, and colon are more common in industrialized countries than in the developi ng world, and to some degree, these conditions appear to share risk fa ctors. To investigate whether there is an association between these ca ncers and a prior history of CHD, a hospital-based case-control study was conducted at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York. The study was based on 252 breast cancer cases, 256 colorectal cancer cas es, and 322 benign surgical controls, all of whom underwent biopsy or surgery between January 1989 and December 1992, and on 319 prostate ca ncer cases and 189 benign prostatic hypertrophy controls diagnosed bet ween January 1984 and December 1986 (prior to widespread use of prosta te-specific antigen screening), Medical records were reviewed on each, focusing on the preoperative anesthesia and surgical clearances. No a ssociation was found between a history of CHD and breast or colorectal cancer, but an elevated risk was found for prostate cancer (odds rati o, 2.00; 95% confidence interval, 1.18-3.39), using unconditional logi stic regression with adjustment for appropriate confounders, No associ ation was found between cigarette smoking and any of the three cancers . Aspirin use was protective for colorectal cancer (odds ratio, 0.35; 95% confidence interval, 0.17-0.73) but had no association with breast or prostate cancer, The study suggests that individuals with CHD are at elevated risk for prostate cancer but not breast or colorectal canc er. Etiological risk factors associated with CHD should be investigate d with regard to prostate cancer, Patients with CHD may represent a hi gh-risk group for prostate cancer and potential future targets for pro state cancer screening interventions.