Risk for CHF was higher with chemotherapy plus trastuzumab than with chemotherapy alone during the first 1.5 years.
The risk for congestive heart failure (CHF) in breast cancer patients using trastuzumab has been carefully documented. To evaluate this cardiac effect on a population level, investigators conducted a retrospective cohort study of 19,074 women identified in the Ontario Cancer Registry who received adjuvant chemotherapy for stage I–III breast cancer between 2003 and 2009. Of these patients, 15,703 (82.3%) received chemotherapy alone and 3371 (17.7%) received chemotherapy plus trastuzumab. The use of anthracyclines, a class of agents also associated with cardiac toxicity, was 85% overall and was slightly more common in patients who received chemotherapy alone.
After a median follow-up of 5.9 years, the 5-year cumulative risk for new-onset CHF w…
Reviewing Author
DisclosuresConsultant/Advisory BoardLilly; AstraZeneca; Gilead
Grant/Research SupportBreast Cancer Research Foundation
Editorial BoardsClinical Breast Cancer; Oncology; Annals of Surgery; Breast Cancer Research and Treatment
Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesNational Comprehensive Cancer Network (Chair, Breast Cancer Panel); American Board of Internal Medicine (Medical Oncology Board)
DisclosuresConsultant/Advisory BoardLilly; AstraZeneca; Gilead
Grant/Research SupportBreast Cancer Research Foundation
Editorial BoardsClinical Breast Cancer; Oncology; Annals of Surgery; Breast Cancer Research and Treatment
Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesNational Comprehensive Cancer Network (Chair, Breast Cancer Panel); American Board of Internal Medicine (Medical Oncology Board)