Heart failure related to contemporary breast cancer treatment.

ABSTRACT: This article addresses cardiotoxicity in patients with breast cancer who are treated with anthracyclines and/or anti-human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2) therapy, namely doxorubicin and trastuzumab. Development of concise clinical guidelines for chemotherapy-induced heart failure is ongoing. Through identification of specific risk factors and clinical predictors of cardiotoxicity, clinicians are able to better understand and define effective monitoring strategies and optimize patient care. Close cardiac monitoring is recommended for patients throughout treatment with anthracyclines and anti-HER2 therapy. Pretreatment risk assessment with echocardiography and evaluation of cardiovascular risk factors aid in predicting the development of left ventricular (LV) dysfunction. Further clinical trials are needed to increase understanding and optimize treatment guidelines for LV dysfunction in patients taking anthracyclines or anti-HER2 therapy.

Clinical Outcomes in Hospitalized Patients with Cancer and New versus Preexistent Atrial Fibrillation.

BACKGROUND: There is limited information on the prognostic impact of new onset versus preexistent atrial fibrillation (AF) in hospitalized patients with cancer. OBJECTIVES: We sought to determine the clinical impact of new onset AF (NOAF) compared with preexistent AF in hospitalized patients with cancer. METHODS: All patients with cancer hospitalized over the course of one year with clinically manifest new or preexistent AF were enrolled in the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) AF registry. The relationship of NOAF to the primary composite outcome of all cause death, cardiovascular (CV) rehospitalization or cerebrovascular event (CVE), as well as secondary CV endpoints, were analyzed using proportional hazards regression. Where applicable, the competing risk of death was accounted for using methodology described by Fine and Gray. RESULTS: Among 606 patients included in the analysis, 313 (51.7%) had NOAF and 293 (48.3%) had preexistent AF. Patients with NOAF were younger and had less frequent prior history of CV disease compared with patients with preexistent AF. At follow up, patients with NOAF had a higher adjusted hazard for the primary composite outcome versus patients with prior AF (HR 1.64, 95% CI 1.27, 2.13, p=0.002), as well as the secondary CV composite outcome of clinical AF recurrence, CV death, CV rehospitalization or CVE (HR 2.17, 95% CI 1.57, 2.99, P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: In hospitalized patients with cancer and electrocardiographically manifest new versus preexistent AF, NOAF was associated with a higher risk for the primary composite outcome of all-cause death, CV rehospitalization or CVE.