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Risk of cardiovascular disease may be as great as risk for recurrence in breast cancer survivors
2009 ASCO Breast Cancer Symposium
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 cardiovascular disease.
Physicians at three U.S. universities collected cardiovascular 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 cardiovascular disease in only 22% of women. The risk was equal in 43% of women and the risk for cardiovascular disease 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.”
The study highlights the importance of giving due attention to other comorbidities among breast cancer survivors as these tend to get overlooked, Bardia said. – by Jason Harris
For more information:
- Bardia A. #133. Presented at: 2009 Breast Cancer Symposium; Oct. 8-10, 2009; San Francisco.
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