Background: To investigate the standardized incidence ratios (SIR) of stroke in patients with head and neck cancer and their relationship to radiotherapy. Methods: Patients with head and neck cancer ages 20–85 years were enrolled from 2007 to 2016 using the Taiwan Cancer Registry. The study endpoint was fatal and non-fatal ischemic stroke, ascertained by the National Health Insurance Research Database. Age- and sex-adjusted SIRs, categorized by 10-year age standardization, were used to compare the patients with head and neck cancer with a randomly selected 2,000,000 general population. We compared the risk of stroke in patients with head and neck cancer who received radiotherapy or surgery alone. Multivariable adjusted hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were obtained from Cox regression analysis with competing risk. Results: Among 41,266 patients (mean age, 54.1 years; men, 90.6%) in the median follow-up period of 3.9 years, 1,407 strokes occurred. Compared with the general population, the overall SIR of stroke was 1.37 (95% CI, 1.30–1.44) in patients with head and neck cancer. In patients with head and neck cancer, the fully adjusted HR of stroke in those who received radiotherapy was 0.96 (95% CI, 0.83–1.10), compared with those who received surgery alone. Conclusions: Patients with head and neck cancer had a higher risk of fatal or non-fatal ischemic stroke. The risk of stroke was not higher in patients initially treated with radiotherapy. Impact: Oncologists should emphasize stroke prevention in all patients with head and neck cancer, not only in those who received radiotherapy.

ObjectivesAlthough several studies have investigated the association between fibrinogen level and the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), few studies have been conducted in Asia.SettingWe conducted a community-based prospective cohort study in the Chin-Shan community, Taiwan.ParticipantsA total of 2222 participants (54.6±11.9 years, 53.4% women, and 22.4 years of follow-up) who underwent plasma fibrinogen measurements and were without CVD at baseline were recruited, among which 735 participants with available C reactive protein (CRP) were included in the joint analysis of the association of fibrinogen and CRP levels with the risk of CVD.Primary and secondary outcome measuresFibrinogen and CRP levels were measured by clotting and high-sensitivity immunoturbidimetric assays, respectively. The study outcomes were CVD events and all-cause death. Our definition of CVD included both coronary artery disease (CAD) and stroke cases. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate the HRs and 95% CIs.ResultsCompared with the lowest quartile, participants with higher fibrinogen levels tended to have a higher risk of CAD (adjusted HR for the highest quartile=1.48 (95% CI 0.90 to 2.44); test for trend p=0.037) regardless of CRP level (adjusted HR=2.12 (95% CI 1.24 to 3.63) and 2.17 (95% CI 1.06 to 4.44) for high fibrinogen/low CRP and high fibrinogen/high CRP, respectively). The association was not observed for stroke (adjusted HR for the highest quartile=0.99 (95% CI 0.62 to 1.60); test for trend p=0.99) and was only observed for all-cause death among participants <65 years of age (adjusted HR for the highest quartile=1.47 (95% CI 1.11 to 1.95); test for trend p=0.004).ConclusionsFibrinogen may be a potential risk factor for CAD but not for stroke. Further studies are necessary to clarify the differences in the role of fibrinogen levels on the risk of CVD between Asian and Western countries.

Treatment with levothyroxine and radioiodine contribute alternative cardiovascular function in adults with thyroid cancer. The risks of long-term cardiovascular conditions among thyroid cancer patients is unknown. This study aimed to compare the incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD), ischemic stroke (IS), and atrial fibrillation (AF) among adults with thyroid cancer with that of the general population, especially when stratified by age (< 65 and ≥ 65 years old). This observational cohort study enrolled patients between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2016 with a follow-up until December 31, 2018. This study analyzed the data of Taiwanese thyroid cancer patients registered on the National Taiwan Cancer Registry Database, with CHD and IS. SIR models were used to evaluate the association between thyroid cancer and CHD, IS, AF, and cardiovascular disease outcome, stratified by age and sex. SIR analyses were also conducted for both sexes, age groups (< 65, ≥ 65 years), and different follow-up years. After excluding 128 individuals (< 20 years or ≥ 85 years old) and with missing index data, 4274 eligible thyroid cancer patients without CHD history, 4343 patients without IS history, and 4247 patients without AF history were included for analysis. During the median follow-up of 3.5 (1.2) years among thyroid cancer patients, the observed number of new CHD events was 70; IS, 30; and AF, 20, respectively. The SIR was significantly higher for CHD (SIR, 1.57; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2–1.93) among thyroid cancer patients compared with the age- and sex-specific standardized population. However, the association between thyroid cancer and the risks of IS (SIR, 0.74; 95% CI 0.47–1), cardiovascular disease (SIR, 0.88; 95% CI 0.7–1.05), and atrial fibrillation (SIR, 0.74; 95% CI 0.42–1.06) were insignificant. Moreover, stratification by age < 65 or age ≥ 65 years old and by sex for CHD suggested that the diagnosis of thyroid cancer in the young may attenuate the CHD risk (SIR, 2.08; 95% CI 1.5–2.66), and the CVD risk was constant among both men (SIR, 1.63; 95% CI 1.03–2.24) and women (SIR, 1.53; 95% CI 1.06–1.99). The patients had persistent higher CHD risk for 5 years after cancer diagnosis. Thyroid cancer survivors have a substantial CHD risk, even at long-term follow-up, especially in those patients < 65 years old. Further research on the association between thyroid cancer and CHD risk is warranted.

Purpose Evidence regarding the relationship between colorectal cancer and the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is limited. Thus, in this study, we aimed to determine the standardised incidence ratio (SIR) of CVDs in colorectal cancer patients in Taiwan. Methods A population-based cohort study enrolling the incident colorectal cancer population based on the Cancer Registry Database from 2007 to 2016 was conducted (n = 94,233, mean age: 62.4 years, 43.0% women). New cases of CVD, including coronary heart disease and ischemic stroke, through 31 December 2018 were obtained from the National Health Insurance Research Database and National Death Registry. Compared with the general population (n = 1,977,659, mean age: 44.3 years, 49.6% women), age- and sex-specific SIRs for CVDs were calculated by the time since diagnosis. Results A total of 6852 cardiovascular events occurred in colorectal cancer patients during a median follow-up of 4.4 years. The SIR of CVD was highest in the first year after diagnosis (SIR: 1.45, 95% confidence interval: 1.39–1.50); however, this decreased to the same value as that of the general population in later years. Similar patterns were observed for the SIR of coronary heart disease. However, the SIR of ischemic stroke among colorectal cancer patients was low from the second year following cancer diagnosis. Conclusions Colorectal cancer patients are at an increased risk of developing CVD, especially coronary heart disease, during the first 3 years following colorectal cancer diagnosis.

Objectives: The Short Form 12 Survey (SF-12) three-component model is used to compute health-related quality of life (QoL): it includes physical, mental, and role-social QoL. We asked whether the SF-12 three-component model is associated with disability-free survival. Methods: People ≥65 years old were included ( n = 2634). SF-12 scores were assessed at baseline. The outcome was a composite of loss of independence (LoI) and death. LoI was defined using Japan’s long-term care insurance categories. Hazard ratios (HRs) for LoI or death were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models. Results: Better physical QoL was inversely associated with LoI or death (adjusted HR per 10-point increase: .88 [95% CI: .81–.96]), but mental QoL was not. Better role-social QoL was inversely associated with LoI or death only among participants with higher than average physical QoL (adjusted HR per 10-point increase: .79 [95% CI: .65–.96], p for interaction = .04). Discussion: Physical QoL was associated with disability-free survival, and role-social QoL was associated with disability-free survival among those with better physical QoL.