The Association between the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease and Androgen Deprivation Therapy in Patients with Prostate Cancer. A Meta-Analysis and systematic review.

Background : Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is widely being applied in men who suffered from prostate cancer, our aim is to evaluate whether ADT is associated with an excess risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Method : Studies comparing the the incidence of CVD between ADT group and control group were identified through literature search in electronic databases (Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science) until July 2019 and only observational studies and randomized controlled trials (RCT) were included. The estimating relative risk ratio (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated through random effects meta-analyses. Result : A statistically significant association was detected for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) with RR = 1.22; 95% confidence interval CI, 1.05–1.43; P< 0.05. Significant relationship between coronary heart disease (CHD) and ADT was also observed, with summary RR=1.19; 95%CI, 1.03-1.38; P<0.05. ADT was associated with a risk increasement for heart failure (HF) with RR=1.15; 95% CI 1.01–1.33; P< 0.05. On the contrary, ADT was not associated with an increased risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD). Conclusions : From this study, ADT is associated with increased risk of AMI, CHD, and heart failure (HF); in contrast, this association is not detected in SCD; various modalities of ADT could significantly increase the risk of CHD, AMI, except for oral anti-androgen (AA). Our meta-analysis also suggests that the long-term application of ADT in prostate cancer patients would not result in a significant increase in AMI incidence compared with short-term. Moreover, the combined application of AA and GnRH agonists would lead to a similar risk of AMI compared with orchiectomy or GnRH agonists monotherapy whereas higher risk of CHD was detected when compared GnRH agonists plus AA with orchiectomy.