Increased Psychological, Cardiovascular Risks in Relatives of Patients With Cancer

First-degree relatives of patients with cancer have an increased risk of psychological and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), according to findings published in Cancer. The findings highlight the need for increased clinical attention and support for familial caretakers to reduce the harm caused by cancer.¹

The study findings emphasizing the need for increased clinical attention and support for family members of patients with cancer. Image Credit: © Mongkolchon - stock.adobe.com

Cancer diagnoses can have life-changing effects on the lives of patients and their families, affecting them psychologically, physically, socially, financially, and spiritually. It can be a highly traumatic experience, regardless of the disease type, stage at diagnosis, or prognosis for the patient. Family members can often become the primary caretakers, thus directly witnessing the debilitating symptoms experienced by loved ones, helping them to physically and emotionally cope with illness. Additionally, they are faced with the stress of managing the significant financial burden associated with treatments, hospitalizations, and surgeries.¹

Chronic psychological stress has consistently been linked to an increased risk of CVD, heart attack, and stroke; however, there has been little study of the psychological effects among familial caregivers of patients with cancer. In a retrospective cohort analysis on the first-degree relatives of family members with genitourinary cancer (GU), the authors aimed to better understand the effect a cancer diagnosis has on their psychological and cardiovascular (CV) health outcomes.^1,2

The study included data from 77,938 first-degree relatives and spouses of 49,284 individuals diagnosed with GU compared with 81,022 relatives and spouses of 246,775 individuals not diagnosed with cancer who were identified in the Utah Population Database between the years 1990 and 2015. The authors used Cox proportional hazards models to identify the links between cancer diagnoses and risk of developing CVD, as well as psychological illness.¹

Data from 1-, 3-, and 5-year follow ups revealed a 10% increased risk of developing a psychological illness (hazard ratio [HR], 1.10; 95% CI, 1.00–1.20) and a 28% increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease (HR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.17–1.41) at 1 year after a family member’s cancer diagnosis. Within 5, years 7.1% of relatives with a psychological illness and 7.6% with CVD. Of the participants, the results indicated that parents of children with cancer had an estimated 4-fold increased risk of developing negative health outcomes compared with other relatives.¹

The study findings offer population-level evidence of the link between cancer diagnoses for family members and adverse health outcomes, emphasizing the need for increased clinical attention and support.

“A diagnosis of cancer is a life-changing event for patients and their families,” Mouneeb Choudry, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, in Phoenix and lead study author, said in a press release. “As health care professionals, we should take a multidisciplinary approach to addressing the stress of a cancer diagnosis by helping mitigate financial toxicity, treatment burden, and emotional impact on both the patient and their family.”³

REFERENCES

1. Choudry M, Murray N, Dindinger-Hill K, et al. Genitourinary cancer and family: The reverberating psychological and cardiovascular effects of a genitourinary cancer diagnosis on first-degree relatives and spouses. September 9, 2024. doi: 10.1002/cncr.35486

2. Satyjeet F, Naz S, Kumar V, et al. Psychological stress as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease: a case-control study. Cureus. October 1, 2020. doi:10.7759/cureus.10757

3. Can coping with a cancer diagnosis contribute to psychological and cardiovascular problems in family members. Ecancer. September 9, 2024. Accessed September 12, 2024. https://ecancer.org/en/news/25274-can-coping-with-a-cancer-diagnosis-contribute-to-psychological-and-cardiovascular-problems-in-family-members