Breast Cancer and the Cardiovascular Disease: A Narrative Review

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy affecting females worldwide and is also among the top causes of all cancer-related deaths. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is known to have the highest rate of mortality in women. There are several risk factors for both CVD and breast cancer that overlap, such as diet, smoking, and obesity, and also the current breast cancer treatment has a significant detrimental effect on cardiovascular health in general. Patients with exposure to potentially cardiotoxic treatments, including anthracyclines, trastuzumab, and radiation therapy, are more likely to develop CVD than non-cancer controls. Early detection and treatment may reduce the risk of the development of cardiac morbidity and mortality and would increase the number of breast cancer survivors. This article provides a comprehensive overview of breast cancer, identifies shared risk factors among breast cancer and CVD, and the cardiotoxic effects of therapy. It also reviews possible prevention and treatment of CVD in breast cancer patients and reviews literature about chemoprevention of cardiac disease in the setting of breast cancer treatment.