Vessels and cancer
A link between the condition of blood vessels and cancer has been found
Scientists have found that the same sign – the presence of endothelial microvascular dysfunction in a patient indicates the risk of developing both cardiovascular and oncological diseases. The results of the study are published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology (Toya et al., Assessment of peripheral endothelial function predicts future risk of solid-tumor cancer).
Microvascular endothelial dysfunction (MED) is a violation of the normal functioning of the endothelium, a layer of cells covering small blood vessels from the inside. At the same time, the vessels become more brittle, their tone decreases. The causes that provoke the development of microvascular endothelial dysfunction are hypertension, high cholesterol, obesity and diabetes.
Changes in MED also affect small arteries in the heart, which impairs their ability to expand and restricts the flow of oxygen-rich blood. Therefore, it is believed that the presence of MED in a patient increases the risk of developing heart disease.
Scientists from the Mayo Clinic (USA) have found that microvascular dysfunction can also be an early sign of cancer.
The basis for the analysis was a sample of 488 people who had been monitored in the clinic for cardiovascular diseases for 12 years. 211 of them had microvascular endothelial dysfunction for at least the last six years. It turned out that the risk of cancer in patients with MED is significantly higher than in those whose vessels function normally – 9.5 and 3.7 percent, respectively. These figures already take into account adjustments for age, gender, coronary artery disease and other factors.
"Microvascular endothelial dysfunction may be a useful marker for predicting cancer risk," lead author Amir Lerman said in a Mayo Clinic press release.
As a rule, microvascular endothelial dysfunction manifests itself about five years earlier than cancer is diagnosed. The association between MED and cancer is more pronounced among men and patients with aggravating factors such as hypertension, coronary artery disease, smoking and obesity.
Scientists recognize that patients with MED, as a rule, have other health problems, and this may also increase their risk of cancer, as well as the frequency of detection of the latter. Whether microvascular disorders are functionally related to the development of cancer remains to be determined.
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