Cardiovascular sequelae in long-term survivors of young peoples' cancer: a linked cohort study

Background: We aimed to define the incidence and risk of cardiovascular late effects (LEs) identified from inpatient hospital episode statistics (HES) among long-term survivors of cancer in young people by age at diagnosis (0-14 and 15-29 years). Methods: Records from the Yorkshire Specialist Register of Cancer in Children and Young People (1991-2006) were linked to inpatient HES data (1996-2011) to assess rates of cardiovascular LEs. Rates were compared with the general population in Yorkshire using age-sex-matched HES records for the entire region. Results: Of 3247 survivors of cancer, 3.6% had at least one cardiovascular LE. Overall, cardiovascular hospitalisations for the childhood cohort were threefold higher compared with the general population, but did not differ for young adults. For young adults, increased rates were limited to pericardial disease, cardiomyopathy and heart failure, pulmonary heart disease, hypertension and conduction disorders. Conclusions: Survivors of childhood and young adult cancer remain at increased risk of cardiovascular LEs compared with the general population.