International Journal of Cardiovascular Sciences. 06/Feb/2024;37:e20230131.

Cardiovascular Disease in Women With Breast Cancer: A Contemporary Review

Adriana Puente Barragán , Patricia Nuriulú Escobar , Alejandra Madrid Miller , Luis Antonio Moreno Ruiz

DOI: 10.36660/ijcs.20230131

This Review Article is referred by the Editorial "Breast Cancer, Cardiotoxicity and Cardiovascular Disease Prevention: Where Are We in this Knowledge?".

Abstract

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignant neoplasia in women and is responsible for one in six deaths from cancer in the female population. Five years after diagnosis, BC survival rates currently exceed 80%. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a frequent cause of morbidity and mortality in BC, mainly in patients receiving cardiotoxic drugs (anthracyclines, immunotherapy) and radiotherapy (RT).

CVD and BC have common risk factors (RF), which are related to aging, traditional and cardiometabolic RFs (obesity, dyslipidemia, consumption of alcoholic beverages), and others associated with sex and reproductive women’s age, such as early menarche, late menopause, nulliparity, use of oral contraceptives, as well as hormone replacement therapy in postmenopause.

Risk stratification and the promotion of an ideal state of cardiovascular (CV) health are fundamental in preventing CVD in survivors. Therapeutic management and follow-up of patients with BC require a multidisciplinary team to reduce complications and mortality of CV origin.