Treatment for breast cancer and subsequent survival are improving, but cardiotoxicity of anticancer therapies remains an important concern. However, data from the SEER-18 database indicate that cardiac mortality is not increased among survivors of breast cancer compared with the general population. In a registry-based cohort study, a total of 347,476 women were diagnosed with breast cancer between 2000 and 2011, treated with chemotherapy or radiotherapy, and followed up until 2014. The highest cause of death among the study population was breast cancer. Compared with the general population, survivors of breast cancer had a lower risk of cardiac mortality (standardized mortality ratio 0.84, 95% CI 0.79–0.90).
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Weberpals, J. et al. Long-term heart-specific mortality among 347 476 breast cancer patients treated with radiotherapy or chemotherapy: a registry-based cohort study. Eur. Heart J. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehy167 (2018)
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Lim, G. Breast cancer therapy and cardiac mortality. Nat Rev Cardiol 15, 380 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41569-018-0018-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41569-018-0018-8