Early cancer therapy and heart problems. (Biomedicine).Numerous studies have indicated that children who receive certain chemotherapy drugs and chest-radiation treatments for cancer face a heightened risk of heart disease later in life. In a new study, researchers report that cardiovascular symptoms show up as early as 10 years after treatment. Steven Lipshultz of the University of Rochester The University of Rochester (UR) is a private, coeducational and nonsectarian research university located in Rochester, New York. The university is one of 62 elected members of the Association of American Universities. in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of and his colleagues documented the risk by examining 176 young-adult cancer survivors and 64 of their siblings who never had cancer. The former patients had been treated for leukemia, lymphoma, or another cancer an average of 15 years before the study. Compared with their siblings, the cancer survivors had more signs of atherosclerosis, the accumulation of fatty plaques in arteries that underpins heart disease. The former patients also had significantly greater weakening of the heart muscle, a higher pulse rate pulse rate n. The rate of the pulse as observed in an artery, expressed as beats per minute. , and higher blood concentrations of a compound called homocysteine Homocysteine Definition Homocysteine is a naturally occurring amino acid found in blood plasma. High levels of homocysteine in the blood are believed to increase the chance of heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer's disease, and osteoporosis. that's linked with heart disease. They also were less physically active. These differences were present even though most people in both groups were outwardly healthy and less than 21 years old--an age when doctors would expect to see few signs of heart disease, Lipshultz says. The indicators suggest the cancer survivors had heart damage and were working harder to maintain circulation, Lipshultz says. The treatments received by the cancer patients included radiation to the chest and chemotherapy with drugs called anthracyclines. Previous research indicated that such treatments cause chronic inflammation chronic inflammation n. Inflammation that may have a rapid or slow onset but is characterized primarily by its persistence and lack of clear resolution; it occurs when the tissues are unable to overcome the effects of the injuring agent. that can damage heart cells, notes Melissa Hudson of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, founded in 1962, is a leading pediatric treatment and research facility focused on children's catastrophic diseases. It is located in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1996, Peter Doherty, Ph.D., of St. in Memphis, Tenn. Hudson says doctors today are better shielding children's hearts from radiation and giving them lower doses of anthracyclines than when the children in Lipshultz' study received treatment.--N.S. |
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