Hypertension Risk in Colorectal Cancer Survivors

Survivors of colorectal cancer have a greater chance of hypertension (high blood pressure) and worse blood pressure control compared with people who do not have cancer, according to study findings.

Researchers from Duke University, the University of North Carolina and Durham VA Medical Center matched 9,758 nonmetastatic colorectal cancer survivors — selected from the Veterans Affairs health care system — to 29,066 noncancer controls. They examined cardiovascular disease-related chronic conditions.

The researchers found that the survivors had 57 percent and 12 percent higher odds, respectively, of being diagnosed with hypertension and of poor blood pressure control a year later compared with the controls.

However, the survivors had half the odds of being diagnosed with hyperlipidemia (high concentration of fats, or lipids, in the blood) and higher odds of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) control. Diabetes diagnoses were comparable between the groups.

Hypertension control interventions that target survivors of colorectal cancer may be needed, concluded the authors.