Patients with early stages of breast cancer who receive more direct radiation to the heart during treatment have a higher risk of heart disease, according to a research letter published online in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Researchers examined the radiation treatment plans of 48 patients with stage 0 through IIA breast cancer. They calculated the association between radiation treatment factors -- such as mean cardiac dose, cardiac risk, treatment side, and body positioning -- and coronary events (JAMA IM, October 28, 2013).
Lead author David Brenner, PhD, from Columbia University Medical Center, and colleagues found that the highest coronary risks were for left-sided treatment in women of high baseline cardiac risk treated lying down, facing up. The lowest risks were for right-sided treatment in women at low baseline risk, the group found.
Radiotherapy-induced risk of heart disease could be reduced in these patients by addressing cardiac risk factors, such as high cholesterol level, hypertension, or smoking habit, or by drug treatment, the team concluded.
