Prediction of cardiovascular risk in cancer patients of South India using WHO/ISH risk prediction charts and Framingham score – A prospective study

Objective Despite the fact that cancer and heart diseases are interconnected, there is lack of information about the prevalence of cardiovascular risk in cancer patients in the South Indian population. With this background, the present study sought to predict the cardiovascular disease in cancer patients. Methods A prospective, cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Medical Oncology, Sri Ramachandra University and Hospital, India. Patients’ demographic details, medical information, height, weight, body mass index, blood pressure, total cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol were measured. Two risk prediction tools, namely World Health Organization/International Society of hypertension (WHO/ISH) risk prediction charts and Framingham score were used to assess the prevalence of cardiovascular risk over 10 years. Results A total of 70 patients were included for the study. Breast and stomach cancer were found to be most among the study patients. Cardiovascular disease was assessed using WHO/ISH and Framingham risk assessment tool. With respect to WHO/ISH risk, there is a significant difference in gender, type of cancer, smoking status and age between the risk groups. Males have a high risk compared to females, and smokers have a high risk compared to non-smokers. With respect to Framingham score, there is a significant difference in gender, smoking status and systolic blood pressure between the risk groups. Males have a high risk compared to females, and smokers have a high risk compared to non-smokers. A moderate degree of agreement exists between the two risk prediction tools. Conclusion The findings of the study revealed that there is a low risk of cardiovascular disease in cancer patients.