In the evaluation of 1,807 cancer survivors who chose to participate in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) study from 1988-1994 and 1999-2004, researchers determined that despite cancer's reputation as a killer, in reality many cancer survivors die from other causes, in many cases ones that might be prevented if they took a more comprehensive approach to their overall health.
Instead of succumbing to cancer, patients were as likely to succumb to diseases such as diabetes or cardiovascular/heart disease.
According to the findings, after a follow-up that ranged as long as 17 years, 776 of those participants had died. However, while 41.8% died of cancer, another 48.9% died from causes or diseases not related to their cancer. (The remaining 9.3% died of indeterminate causes).
Said lead researcher Yi Ning, MD, ScD, assistant professor in the department of epidemiology and community health at Virginia Commonwealth University and associate research member at VCU Massey Cancer Center. "After the detection of cancer, clinicians and cancer survivors pay less attention to the prevention and treatment of other diseases and complications.
"We shouldn’t neglect other aspects of health because we are focused on cancer and overlook other chronic conditions.”
The NHANES survey excluded patients under the age of 18 and it excluded patients with skin cancer.
Source: HemOncToday
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