American scientists have identified an increase in cases of heart failure in young cancer survivors treated with a specific type of chemotherapy.
- Researchers have warned of the risks of heart failure in young patients who have undergone chemotherapy.
- Heart failure is characterized by an inability of the heart muscle to pump blood through the body.
- Further research will be conducted to determine whether other anti-cancer treatments may increase the risk of heart failure in young adults.
In a study published in the scientific journal JACC Journal, researchers have observed that young adult cancer survivors have a 2.6 times greater risk of heart failure when treated with anthracycline, a specific class of chemotherapy. We speak of heart failure when the heart is unable to normally ensure the propulsion of blood in the body. This condition usually occurs in the elderly.
A higher risk of heart failure after treatment for leukemia
To reach this conclusion, scientists from Northwestern Medicine, located in Chicago (USA), recruited 12,879 young adults, aged 18 to 39 at the time of diagnosis, to estimate the risk of heart failure at following treatment with anthracycline.
According to the results, the incidence of heart failure was higher in patients who had suffered from leukemia. People who had kidney, bone, breast or lymphoma cancer were also more likely to develop heart failure compared to patients with other cancers.
Heart failure: a side effect of all anti-cancer treatments?
As explained by Dr. Elizabeth Hibler, lead author of the study and assistant professor of epidemiology at the university’s Feinberg School of Medicine Northwestern Medicineanthracyclines are however less and less used in the case of chemotherapy because of their cardiotoxic side effects. “What we are trying to do is apply our results to studying other cancer drugs to try to understand if they have an impact on the heart (…) Our goal is to improve early detection , because there are treatments for heart failure if the patient shows signs of it”she clarified.
Further research will therefore be conducted soon to determine whether other types of cancer treatment may increase the risk of heart failure in young adults.
