Reasons for and time to seeking healthcare in cardiac clinics by women with a history of successfully treated breast cancer

Background: Various methods of breast cancer treatment are potentially cardiotoxic: anthracycline chemotherapy, HER2-targeted therapy, and radiation therapy to the left side of the chest. In clinical practice, cardiologists deal with a wide range of complications caused by the mentioned methods. Objective: To analyze the reasons for and timing of seeking healthcare in cardiac clinics by women with a history of successfully treated breast cancer. Methods: Our single-center retrospective observational study included 125 women (mean age at the time of seeking healthcare was 68.1 ± 8.6 years). Results: Patients with a history of radiation therapy had higher peak velocity (P = .015) and peak gradient (P = .017) across the aortic valve. As part of their examination and treatment 71 patients underwent coronary angiography. Of them, 21 patients (29.6%) had coronary artery stenting, and 23 patients (32.4%) underwent coronary artery bypass grafting. Forty-two patients (33.6%) underwent heart valve replacement: aortic valve replacement in 92.9% of the cases (n = 39) and mitral valve replacement in 7.1% of the cases (n = 3). We found a strong negative correlation between the age at the time of radiation therapy and the time to onset of valvular heart disease (r=-0.748; P = .000004) and an average negative correlation between the age and the time to surgical treatment (r=-0.695; P = .00003). Conclusion: We studied the main reasons for seeking healthcare in cardiac clinics by women with a history of breast cancer, analyzed cardiac operations in terms of antitumor therapy types, and found a strong correlation between the age at the time of antitumor therapy and the time to onset of valvular heart disease, as well as the time to cardiac surgery.