Atherosclerosis and malignant tumours

Aortic and coronary atherosclerosis were studied in subjects with a malignant disease and compared with those in the three atherosclerosis reference groups. In general, subjects with a malignant disease had little atherosclerosis, except for men with lung or prostatic cancer; in particular, men with lung cancer tended to have more extensive aortic atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis was less extensive in subjects with tumours specific to females. The ratios between the different types of lesions was preserved and the change was therefore quantitative rather than qualitative. No proof of a real negative influence on atherosclerosis by malignant diseases was found but wasting could be one factor influencing the development of atherosclerosis in tumour subjects. Such subjects, except those with lung and prostatic cancer, could have been included in the low atherosclerosis group which was an index of the mean basic level of atherosclerosis in the populations studied.