Heart Disease Risk in Breast Cancer Patients can be Predicted with Routine Scans

Breast cancer patients routine scans can predict their risk of heart disease, reports a new study. The findings of the study are presented at the European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC-12).

Using computer analysis of the CT scans taken to plan cancer treatments, it is possible to spot those at the greatest risk, reports the new study. Researchers say that identifying patients most at risk of heart disease could allow steps to be taken to reduce the risk.

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‘Women who have been treated for breast cancer may have a higher risk of developing heart disease, and in some groups, the risk of dying from heart disease is higher compared to the risk of dying from breast cancer. ’

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The research was presented by Helena Verkooijen, Professor from the Division of Imaging and Oncology. She said: "Due to better treatment, there is a great improvement in breast cancer survival. However, treatments have side effects, and some treatments like radiotherapy and certain cancer drug types can increase the risk of heart disease."

The study involved nearly 14,000 breast cancer patients treated with radiotherapy in three large hospitals between 2005 and 2016.

Professor Verkooijen and her team used a measure known as coronary artery calcium (CAC) score. It calculates the amount of calcium in the walls of the heart's arteries. It is a vital risk factor in heart disease because calcifications can lead to narrowing or blocking the blood vessels.

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The researchers developed a deep learning algorithm that could measure the presence and extent of coronary artery calcifications from the CT scans. This allowed them to automate the measurement of CAC for all the women with only minimal extra workload.

Researchers followed the women for an average of 52 months to see whether any of them developed heart disease. In women with no calcifications, 5 percent went on to be hospitalized or to die from heart disease. In women with a score of between one and ten, 8.9 percent were hospitalized with or died from heart disease. In women with a score of 11-100, the figure was 13.5 percent, in women with a score of 101-400, it was 17.5 percent, and in women with a score of more than 400, it was 28.3 percent.

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When researchers took into account women's ages and the year they were diagnosed, they noticed a 3.7 times greater risk of heart disease in women with the highest score (above 400) than women with no calcifications.

The researchers admit that they were unable to take other heart disease risk factors, like high blood pressure, smoking, and diabetes, into account in this study, although these are factors they are looking at in another study.

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Source-Medindia