Recent postoperative radiotherapy for left-sided breast cancer does not increase mortality of heart disease in Asians or Pacific islanders: SEER database analysis

Abstract

Background Radiation-induced heart damage has recently attracted attention, and serious heart damage due to radiation has been reported in patients with breast cancer. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of radiotherapy on mortality from heart disease in Asians or Pacific islanders with breast cancer using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Methods Asians or Pacific islanders with stage 0 or I (AJCC 6th ) breast cancer between 2000 and 2015 were analyzed. The impact of radiotherapy for mortality from heart disease after treatment was evaluated by comparing patients who received radiotherapy for left-sided breast cancer, patients who received radiotherapy for right-sided breast cancer and patients who did not receive radiotherapy Results In 25,684 Asians or Pacific islanders, the incidence of cardiac death was higher in patients who did not receive radiotherapy than in patients who received radiotherapy. Among patients who received external beam irradiation, the incidences of cardiac death were 2.00% for patients with left-sided breast cancer and 1.69% for patients with right-sided breast cancer, with no significant difference (chi-square test, p = 0.427). In the period from 2000 to 2008, there was no significant difference between the cumulative heart-related death rates in patients who received radiotherapy and in patients who did not receive radiotherapy (Tarone-Ware test, p = 0.406); however, in 2009–2015, the cumulative heart-related death rate in patients who did not receive radiotherapy was significantly higher than that in patients who received radiotherapy (log-rank test, p < 0.001). Conclusions Heart-related death after treatment for breast cancer is relatively rare in Asians or Pacific islanders. Since at least 2000, the cardiac impact of postoperative radiotherapy has not been significant.