Cancer Treatment-Related Complications in Patients With Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

To describe the potential clinical cardiotoxicity of oncological treatments in a cohort of consecutive patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), systematically followed-up at two national referral centers for HCM. Cardiotoxicity relates to the direct effects of cancer-related treatment on heart function, commonly presenting as left ventricular contractile dysfunction. However, limited data are available regarding cardiotoxic effects on HCM as most studies have not specifically analyzed the effects of oncological treatment in HCM populations. This gap in knowledge may lead to unjustified restriction of HCM patients from receiving curative cancer treatments.

We retrospectively analyzed clinical and instrumental data of all consecutive HCM patients who underwent oncological treatment between January 2000 and December 2020 collected in a centralized database.

Of 3256 HCM patients, 121 (3.7%) had cancer; 110 (90.9%) underwent oncological surgery, 45 (37.2%) received chemotherapy, and 22 (18.2%) received chest radiation therapy (cRT). After a median follow-up of 5.2 years (Q1-Q3: 2-13 years) from oncological diagnosis, 32 patients died. The cumulative survival at 5 years was 79.9%. The cause of death was mainly attributed to the oncological condition, whereas four patients died of sudden cardiac death without receiving previous chemotherapy or cRT. No patient interrupted or reduced the dose of oncological treatment due to cardiac dysfunction. No sustained ventricular tachyarrhythmia was induced by chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

Cancer treatment was well tolerated in HCM patients. In our consecutive series, none died of cardiovascular complications induced by chemotherapy or cRT and they did not require interruption or substantial treatment tapering due to cardiovascular toxic effects. Although a multidisciplinary evaluation is necessary and regimens must be tailored individually, the diagnosis of HCM per se should not be considered a contraindication to receive optimal curative cancer treatment.