Radiotherapy for breast cancer boosts cardiovascular death risk
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By David Liu, Ph.D. and editing by Elizabeth Hutchinson
Saturday June 4, 2011 (foodconsumer.org) -- Radiotherapy intended for the treatment of breast cancer is known for its risk of promoting secondary cancer. Less publicized is the fact that patients who receive the treatment are more likely to die from cardiovascular disease.
Kim Bouillon, MD, MPH of Radiation Epidemiology Group-CESP—Unit 1018 INSERM in Villejuif, France and colleagues found radiotherapy increased the long-term risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. Additionally, the risk was particularly higher for women who received the treatment for their left breasts.
The researchers followed 4,456 breast cancer survivor women over the age of 28 years who had survived at least five years post-treatment. They recorded 421 deaths from cardiovascular disease, 236 of which were from cardiac disease during the follow-up.
Breast cancer patients who received radiotherapy were found to be 76 percent more likely to die of cardiac disease and 33 percent more likely to die of vascular disease than those who were not exposed to radiation.
Furthermore, those who received radiotherapy for a left-sided breast cancer were 56 percent more likely to die of cardiac disease, compared to those who received the treatment for their right-sided breasts.
The risk increased with time post-treatment.
The women in the study received radiotherapy before 1984. The dosage today may be different and the study results may or may not be exactly applicable to the treatment currently employed to treat breast cancer. However, the damaging effect from radiation remains the same, though the magnitude of the damage may vary.
Dr. John Gofman, Ph.D. and M.D., a late, famous nuclear physician previously pointed out that radiation increases breast cancer risk. Breast tissue is among the most susceptible to damage from radiation. Dr. Gofman said 75 percent of breast cancer patients were exposed to medical radiation prior to diagnosis, and he believed radiation was one of the major risks for breast cancer.
In the U.S., more than 175,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, and the disease kills about 50,000 women annually, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute.
On the website of foodconsumer.org, many reports on how to prevent breast cancer have been published. Breast cancer is preventable in many cases by simply following a healthy lifestyle including a healthy diet.
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