Cardiac Function After Radiation Therapy for Breast Cancer

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Oncology
• Radiology

Background:

• Breast cancer survivors treated with radiation therapy (RT) may experience cardiac dysfunction.
• Incidental cardiac irradiation is a concern in RT for breast cancer.
• Assessing cardiac function post-RT is crucial for long-term survivor health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between incidental cardiac irradiation and cardiac function changes in breast cancer survivors.
• To test the hypothesis linking radiation dose parameters to systolic and diastolic dysfunction.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study of 109 breast cancer survivors treated with RT (2005-2011).
• Cardiac function assessed via echocardiography, including left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and global longitudinal strain (GLS).
• Radiation dose parameters to the left ventricle (LV) and coronary arteries analyzed using 3D CT planning data.

Main Results:

• No significant relation found between RT dose parameters and LVEF.
• Maximum dose to the left main coronary artery was associated with decreased GLS of the LV.
• Diastolic dysfunction was primarily associated with patient age and baseline hypertension, not RT dose parameters.

Conclusions:

• Cardiac dose distributions correlate with GLS of the LV in breast cancer survivors post-RT.
• LVEF was not found to be related to RT dose parameters.
• Diastolic function is more influenced by patient factors like age and hypertension than RT dose.