Cardiac Toxicity Among Breast Cancer Patients in Routine Practice

Medical oncologists are attuned to the risk for cardiac toxicity from drugs such as anthracyclines and HER2-directed therapy in combination with chemotherapy. Most of the caution regarding these agents is derived from data obtained in carefully regimented clinical trials. To get a better sense of cardiac dysfunction associated with breast cancer therapy in routine clinical practice, investigators conducted a retrospective, population-based, cohort study involving 18,540 women (age, 47–62 years) with stage I–III breast cancer at 14 cancer centers in Ontario, Canada, between 2007 and 2012.

During a median follow-up of 3 years, patients had a higher cumulative incidence of major cardiac events — hospital admission or emergency room visit for co…