Imagine beating cancer and then learning that the drug that saved your life also increases your chance of heart failure in Washington.
Anthracyclines, a kind of chemotherapy used to kill cancer cells, have been linked to a 2.6-fold increase in the risk of heart failure among young adult cancer survivors (those who were between the ages of 18 and 39 when they were diagnosed).
In the first study to do so, researchers looked at 12,879 young adult cancer survivors who had been treated with anthracyclines.
Heart failure was most common among leukaemia survivors. Heart failure was also more common among survivors of kidney, lymphoma, bone, and breast cancer than among survivors of other cancers. Anthracyclines are often used to treat certain cancers.
Assistant professor of epidemiology and prevention at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and corresponding study author Elizabeth Hibler said, “Thankfully, people are increasingly surviving early-onset cancer, but once they do, they are at risk of long-term side effects, like heart failure and infertility.” I want to see people succeed in beating cancer, and then I want to see them succeed in beating cancer and living long, healthy lives thereafter.
The article describing the research appeared in the May 16 issue of JACC: cardio-oncology.
Senior research author Dr. Sadiya Khan noted that the average age of diagnosis of heart failure was 32 years old, which not only implies an elevated risk but also early beginning of heart failure.
Assistant professor of cardiology and epidemiology at Feinberg and Northwestern Medicine physician Khan said, “We often think of heart failure as a disease people get when they are old, but this work highlights that this is also a short-term risk for patients who survive cancer.” “It encourages patients and clinicians to keep an eye on symptoms and think about preventative measures.”
