Adult Survivors of Childhood Cancer Are at Excess Risk for Heart Disease

Thanks to advances in pediatric oncology, more children with cancer are surviving into adulthood; the number of such survivors in the U.S. is estimated at 270,000. However, many survivors of childhood cancers experience long-term adverse outcomes, including secondary cancers and adverse cardiac effects, attributable to cancer treatment. In this multicenter retrospective cohort study, investigators compared long-term cardiac outcomes in 14,400 5-year survivors of cancer that was diagnosed before age 21 with outcomes among 3900 siblings of survivors.

Survivors (mean age at diagnosis, 6 years) received cancer treatment between 1970 and 1986; more than half received both chemotherapy and radiation. Survivors were significantly more likely to rep…