The association between cardiovascular disease, cardioprotective medications and malignant melanoma

There is emerging evidence that cardiovascular disease and treatments are increasingly relevant in patients with melanoma, but also other cancers. This thesis identified that patients who received new treatments for melanoma, called immune checkpoint inhibitors, have an increased risk of serious cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke. This thesis also found that cholesterol-lowering medications, called “statins”, used to treat cardiovascular disease may also have beneficial effects in treatment of melanoma. The findings in this thesis suggest possible ways clinicians can tailor cancer treatments to patients to reduce side-effects and optimise treatment response.