More heart problems with 2 chemo drugs for breast cancer
Women who have breast cancer and are treated with two chemotherapy drugs may experience more cardiac problems like heart failure than shown in previous studies, according to a new Cancer Research Network study by Group Health researchers and others in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
The study is significant because more and more women are surviving longer with breast cancer, so it's becoming a chronic disease, said lead author Erin Aiello Bowles, MPH, an epidemiologist at Group Health Research Institute.
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the United States, with an estimated 232,620 new diagnoses in 2011. Often the cure is problematic, as when chemotherapy causes other health problems—as shown in this study.
Read the whole article at ecancer.org
Reference
- Bowles, E. J. A., Wellman, R., et al. (2012). Risk of heart failure in breast cancer patients after anthracycline and trastuzumab treatment: a retrospective cohort study Journal of the National Cancer Institute DOI: 10.1093/jnci/djs317
Keywords: chemotherapy, heart failure, cardiomyopathia, anthracycline, trastuzumab
1. 9. 2012 ecancer.org
