Risk for CVD may be as great as risk for recurrence in breast cancer survivors

Preliminary results suggest the risk for cardiovascular disease was equal to or greater than the risk of recurrence in a majority of postmenopausal survivors of breast cancer.

Thursday, at the 2009 Breast Cancer Symposium in San Francisco, Aditya Bardia, MD, MPH, an oncology fellow at Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University, presented the results of a study that explored the 10-year risk for breast cancer recurrence in postmenopausal women who have survived breast cancer compared with their risk for developing CVD.

Physicians at three U.S. universities collected CVD risk data from 500 women with stage 0 to III breast cancer as part of a multicenter clinical trial by the Consortium of Breast Cancer Pharmacogenetics (COBRA) investigators. Bardia presented preliminary data from 242 women at two of the universities.

The risk for breast cancer recurrence was greater than the risk for CVD in only 22% of women. The risk was equal in 43% of women and the risk for CVD was greater in 35%.

“In other words, 78% of women had a cardiovascular disease risk equal to or higher than breast cancer risk,” Bardia said. “Women with stage I tumor and heart age greater than 65 were particularly likely to have higher cardiovascular disease risk. These women should be counseled appropriately.”

This study highlights the importance of giving attention to other comorbidities among breast cancer survivors as these tend to be overlooked, Bardia said. – by Jason Harris

For more information:

Bardia A. #133. Presented at: 2009 Breast Cancer Symposium; Oct. 8-10, 2009; San Francisco.