Ban  Majeed,Deepak  Ayyala,Gaston  Kapuku,Letisia  Cortes,Steven S. Coughlin,
Cardiovascular Disease among Breast Cancer Survivors
Cardiovascular Disorder and Medicine
2020

http://dx.doi.org/10.31487/j.CDM.2020.01.01
https://www.sciencerepository.org/cardiovascular-disease-among-breast-cancer-survivors_CDM-2020-1-101 
Abstract: Background: Among breast cancer survivors age > 50 years, deaths due to cardiovascular disease account
for 35% of non-cancer related deaths. The increases in cardiovascular disease among breast cancer survivors
is due to the cardiotoxic effects of breast cancer treatment and to overlapping risk factors for breast cancer
and cardiovascular disease.
Methods: We conducted a study of a sample of 164 breast cancer patients in order to examine the frequency
of cardiovascular disease. The overall objective was to examine the frequency of high blood pressure,
myocardial infarction, cardiomyopathy, congestive heart failure, stroke, and venous
thrombosis/thromboembolism among women who have been diagnosed with stage I-IV breast cancer and
who had completed primary therapy for the disease. Data were collected by postal survey and abstraction
of electronic medical records.
Results: A high percentage of the women (62.8%) had a reported history of high blood pressure. Fifty
percent of the women had a reported history of high cholesterol. About 8.3% of the women were current
smokers and 36.0% were former smokers. About 23.8% of the women had a reported history of diabetes.
About 4.9% of the women had a reported history of congestive heart failure and 6.1% had a history of
stroke.
Discussion: Additional studies are needed of cardiovascular risk factors and adverse cardiovascular events
among breast cancer survivors. Of particular concern is whether patients with hypertension,
hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes are receiving appropriate therapy to reduce their cardiovascular risk and
prevent morbidity and mortality from adverse cardiovascular events.Keywords: Breast cancer survivors, cardiomyopathy, cardiovascular disease, congestive heart failure, hypertension, stroke, venous thrombosis