666 Background: With improving longevity, post-treatment cardiovascular disorders will become an increasingly important indicator of competing mortality in early-stage breast cancer. As such, we conducted a pilot study to comprehensively evaluate the CVD profile of a subset of early-stage breast cancer patients treated with adjuvant taxane-anthracycline containing chemotherapy and/or trastuzumab. Methods: Twenty-six breast cancer patients (mean 20 months post chemotherapy) who participated in Breast Cancer International Research Group 006 clinical trial and 10 healthy age-matched women were studied. We measured 14 metabolic and vascular established CVD risk factors, BMI, VO2peak and left ventricular systolic function. All assessments were performed within a 14-day period. Results: Cardiac abnormalities were suggested by LVEF <50% in 10% of patients, LVEF remained >10% below pre-treatment values in 38% while 50% presented with resting sinus tachycardia. BNP was significantly elevated in 40% and was correlated with LVEF (r = -0.72, p=<.001). For the majority of CVD risk factors, similar proportions of patients and controls (35% to 60%) were classified as ‘undesirable.’ A significantly higher proportion of patients were classified with low VO2peak (46% vs. 0%, p<0.01), being overweight/obese (72% vs. 50%, p<0.05), and having resting sinus tachycardia (50% vs. 0%, p<0.01) compared with controls. VO2peak and BMI were correlated with CV risk factors (r = -0.64 to 0.63, p<0.05; r = -0.63 to 0.67, p<0.05, respectively). Exploratory analyses revealed several differences between CVD risk factors based on chemotherapy regimen. Conclusions: Breast cancer survivors treated with adjuvant chemotherapy are at a higher risk of developing late-occurring CVD than age matched controls due to direct and indirect treatment-related toxicity. No significant financial relationships to disclose.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.