1Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer among women and radiotherapy (RT) plays a major role in its treatment. However, BC RT can lead to incidental irradiation of the heart, resulting in an increased risk of a variety of heart diseases arising many years after radiotherapy. Therefore, identifying BC patients with the highest-risk of radiation-induced cardiac complications is crucial for developing strategies for primary and secondary prevention, which may contribute to healthy ageing. There is still a need of precise knowledge on the relationship between radiation dose to specific cardiac structures and early subclinical cardiac changes and their occurrence in time that could finally lead to cardiac complications.
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