Some 2.4 million women breast cancer survivors are alive today and research is underway to find how many women are vulnerable to heart disease because of chemotherapy sessions in their cancer treatment.
Apart from chemo, other therapies including chest radiation and the associated weight gain that plagues many survivors, physical inactivity during treatment and stress also play a major role in heart disease.
Dr. Pamela Douglas, a Duke University cardiologist said, "In the process of curing their breast cancer, we've exposed them to some pretty nasty things."
The study, which is published in this month's Journal of the American College of Cardiology, focuses on the use of anthracyclines. It includes the best-known Adriamycin that can damage heart muscle, sapping its pumping strength.
Dr. Dennis Slamon of UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center found that anywhere from 10 percent to half of anthracycline users experience more subtle heart weakening. It makes them more vulnerable to aging and its side effects like high blood pressure and cholesterol.
Researchers tracked breast cancer survivors ages 66 to 70 who had undergone chemo 10 years earlier and found that those who had received an anthracycline were 26 percent more likely to have developed heart failure in the following decade than those on different chemo.
The research was cited in this month's Journal of Clinical Oncology.
