Radiation Therapy Induced Cardiovascular Disease

Abstract

Contemporary treatment modalities for malignancy including radiation therapy have led to improved survival. However treatment related complications manifesting later in life including cardiovascular disease has led to survivors exhibiting a lower long term survival rate, when compared to age matched controls. This narrative review will discuss the pathophysiology, risk factors, clinical presentation, management and preventative techniques related to radiotherapyinduced cardiotoxicity.

Late onset cardiovascular dysfunction in adult mice resulting from galactic cosmic ray exposure

“…Modeling the impact of GCR exposure on the cardiovascular system has proven exceedingly difficult ( Davis et al., 2021 ). Clinical and epidemiologic data obtained from studies of survivors of nuclear accidents, atomic bomb exposure, and radiation-based medical treatments have demonstrated that acute radiation exposure is associated with a higher rate of delayed cardiovascular-related morbidity and mortality ( Ledsome, 2001 ; Taddeo and Armstrong, 2008 ; Baker et al., 2011 ; Adams et al., 2017 ; ; Abdelgawad et al., 2021 ). These studies are limited by confounding factors such as cancer comorbidity, follow-up time post radiation exposure, and estimations of radiation dose.…”