Long-Term Risk of Cardiovascular Disease After Contemporary Left-Sided Breast Radiation Therapy

Is contemporary left-sided external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) for breast cancer associated with higher long-term risk of cardiovascular disease?In this population-based cohort study of 76 586 women treated with EBRT between 2002 and 2017, there was no difference in the incidence of first cardiovascular hospitalization between those with left- and right-sided breast cancer. Women with left-sided disease had slightly higher rates of new heart failure and ischemic heart disease diagnoses and recurrent cardiovascular hospitalizations.This study’s results suggest that contemporary photon-based EBRT techniques have reduced the excess long-term cardiovascular risk historically associated with left-sided breast cancer radiation therapy.

Corresponding Author: Husam Abdel-Qadir, MD, PhD, FRCPC, Women’s College Hospital, 76 Grenville St, Room 6452, Toronto, ON M5S1B2, Canada (h.abdel.qadir@utoronto.ca).

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