Is There a Link Between Cancer and Heart Disease? | Nicholas Leeper | TED

TL;DR

In this TED Talk, the speaker discusses the commonalities between cancer and cardiovascular disease and how understanding these similarities can potentially lead to new therapies to treat both diseases.

Transcript

In two decades of practicing medicine, I've encountered a wide number of medical diagnoses. You see, it turns out that there are more than 60,000 different medical diagnoses that you can list on a patient's chart. You can actually be diagnosed with a burn injury when your water skis catch on fire. There are also codes if you need surgery after bein... Read More

Key Insights

• 🔬 More than 60,000 different medical diagnoses exist, including unique ones like injuries from water ski fires, pig bites, spacecraft accidents, crocheting stabbings, and in-law tension. The code for getting sucked into a jet engine is for subsequent encounters only.
• 💀 Most likely causes of death are cancer and cardiovascular disease, emphasizing the need for new therapies against them. These diseases, although different, share common risk factors and genetic similarities.
• 🧬 A genetic hotspot on chromosome nine associated with a well-known cancer gene also plays a role in heart attacks, challenging traditional cardiac risk factor beliefs.
• 📚 Cancer and heart disease have overlapping biological processes, including inflammation and immune cell involvement. Clinical data reveals that heart failure patients are at a higher risk of developing cancer, suggesting interconnection.
• 🏥 Controlling cardiac risk factors can lower the risk of developing cancer, supporting the idea that addressing heart disease may help prevent cancer.
• 🧬 Unbiased genetics approaches have identified pathways that could be prioritized to develop new therapies for both heart disease and cancer. Red quadrant factors, like inflammation, can have dual effects on both diseases, as seen in clinical trials.
• 🧬 Blue quadrant factors, such as boosting appetite in immune cells called macrophages, could potentially treat both heart disease and cancer.
• 🌍 By challenging scientific dogma and integrating approaches, researchers may find ways to treat the world's leading killers and bring hope for better therapies.

Questions & Answers

Q: How many different medical diagnoses can be listed on a patient's chart?

There are more than 60,000 different medical diagnoses that can be listed on a patient's chart.

Q: What are some unusual medical diagnoses that exist?

Some unusual medical diagnoses include burn injury from water skis catching on fire, surgery after being bitten by a pig, being hit by a spacecraft, being stabbed while crocheting, and extreme problems with in-laws. One example that stands out is the code for getting sucked into a jet engine, which is not just for the first time it happens, but also for subsequent encounters.

Q: What are the two most likely causes of death for individuals?

The two most likely causes of death for individuals are cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Q: What are the traditional risk factors associated with cancer and cardiovascular disease?

Traditional risk factors for cancer and cardiovascular disease include smoking, cholesterol levels, and diabetes. However, recent genetic studies have shown that other factors, such as a cancer gene located on chromosome nine, may play a significant role in heart disease.

Q: Is there any clinical evidence to suggest that individuals with one disease are at a higher risk of developing the other?

Yes, recent studies have shown that individuals with congestive heart failure are at a higher risk of developing cancer. Mouse models of human disease have also demonstrated that mice with heart disease have much higher rates of cancer growth.

Q: What can be done to lower the risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease?

Controlling cardiac risk factors, such as exercise, cholesterol levels, and diet, can help lower the risk of both cancer and cardiovascular disease. A study showed that individuals who had optimal control of all their risk factors had a lower rate of developing cancer.

Q: How is an unbiased genetics approach being used to find new therapies for cancer and cardiovascular disease?

Instead of looking at one gene at a time, researchers are scanning the whole genome and analyzing the expression of all 20,000 genes in individuals with and without cancer and cardiovascular disease. This approach has identified a list of pathways that could be prioritized for developing new therapies to treat or prevent both diseases.

Q: Can existing drugs be repurposed to treat both cancer and cardiovascular disease?

Some existing drugs, such as those targeting inflammation or increasing the appetite of immune cells called macrophages, have shown promise in treating both cancer and cardiovascular disease. For example, a drug used to treat inflammatory disorders has shown significant effects in reducing both cardiovascular events and cancer rates in patients.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• There are over 60,000 different medical diagnoses, including bizarre ones like burn injuries from water skis catching fire or surgery after being bitten by a pig.

• Cancer and cardiovascular disease are the top two causes of death worldwide, and they have more in common than previously thought.

• New therapies may be developed by targeting factors that are bad for both heart disease and cancer, or by finding factors that can protect against both.