Breast cancer drug herceptin boosts heart disease risk
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By David Liu, Ph.D.
Thursday Aug 11, 2011 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study in Annals of Oncology found women with prior heart disease or diabetes who took breast cancer drug herceptin or trastuzumab were more likely to suffer heart problems, compared with those who did not have breast cancer.
Dr César Serrano at the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona, Spain proved that the elevated risk was directly caused by using breast cancer drug herceptin, that is, when patients stopped using the drug, they recovered from the conditions.
Herceptin is a drug indicated to treat women whose breast cancer is her2 positive.
So why is it that the adverse effects were not found in early trials? The study author said in a press release that the problem is that trials often only involved young and otherwise healthy women while more than 70 percent of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer are older than 60.
The study found that of 45 patients, thirty three percent of the patients with a history of heart disease suffered either asymptomatic or symptomatic heart problems induced by the breast cancer drug herceptin, compared to only 9.1 percent of women without a history of heart disease.
Herceptin users with a history of diabetes had a 33.3 percent chance to develop problems, compared to 6.1 percent for those with the disease.
The study involved 45 breast cancer women aged 70 to 92 who used herceptin and 12 developed heart problems.
The study suggests doctors should consider patients' overall health status to decide whether or not to give the risky breast cancer drug herceptin to their patients. Cauton should be exercised when the drug is given to patients with heart disease or diabetes.
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