Women who undergo chemotherapy for breast cancer are in danger of developing heart problems that could lead to heart failure, says a new study that cites 10 percent of such breast cancer patients are at risk for the heart issues.
And many of the patients at risk do not receive appropriate heart treatment, which study authors say illustrates a need for both cardiologists and oncologists to be aware of the potential problems.
The study states 10 percent of patients develop heart failure within three years after cancer treatment involving anthracyclines, and only one-third were seen by a cardiologist within three months of developing the symptoms, the study found.
"The majority of older women who develop heart problems after their breast cancer therapy aren't treated by a cardiologist, and they had lower quality of care," study lead author Dr. Jersey Chen, a cardiologist and research scientist in Maryland, said.
Those patients who did consult a heart specialist were more likely to be put on appropriate medications for their heart condition than those not seen by a cardiologist, the study found.
"This suggests that this is an important area for oncologists and cardiologists to collaborate," Chen said.
Patients whose breast cancer was addressed with chemotherapy using anthracyclines or who have undergone a targeted therapy with trastuzumab need to be informed of the links seen between those treatments and heart problems, Chen said.
Symptoms including shortness of breath or a swelling in legs or feet could be signs of heart problems and women should seek medical attention quickly, he advised.
Diagnosis of heart problems following cancer treatment is increasing, and doctors in a burgeoning field dubbed cardio-oncology are attempting to deal with the growing problem.
"We're dealing with two devils. We need to balance heart effects with chemo potency, and still get cancer into remission," says Dr. Gagan Sahni, head of cardio-oncology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.
Previously, the discovery of a serious heart problem in a patient undergoing cancer treatment usually meant the cancer therapy would be stopped in order to concentrate on the heart condition.
The growing cooperation between two branches of medicine will hopefully lead to the best treatment for both conditions simultaneously, Chen said.
"You have to consider the whole patient," he said. "It's a new age of collaborative medicine where no physician is treating patients on their own."
The study by Chen and his colleagues was presented at an American Heart Association meeting in Baltimore.
Such studies presented at medical meetings are normally considered preliminary in advance of publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
