Trends in heart disease mortality among breast cancer survivors in the US, 1975-2017

Purpose Heart disease is a significant concern among breast cancer survivors, in part due to cardiotoxic treatments including chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Long-term trends in heart disease mortality have not been well characterized. We examined heart disease mortality trends among US breast cancer survivors by treatment type. Methods We included first primary invasive breast cancer survivors diagnosed between 1975 and 2016 (aged 18-84; survived 12 + months; received initial chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or surgery) in the SEER-9 Database. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) and 10-year cumulative heart disease mortality estimates accounting for competing events were calculated by calendar year of diagnosis and initial treatment regimen. P-trends were assessed using Poisson regression. All statistical tests were 2-sided. Results Of 516,916 breast cancer survivors, 40,812 died of heart disease through 2017. Heart disease SMRs declined overall from 1975-1979 to 2010-2016 (SMR 1.01 [95%CI: 0.98, 1.03] to 0.74 [0.69, 0.79], p(trend) < 0.001). This decline was also observed for survivors treated with radiotherapy alone and chemotherapy plus radiotherapy. A sharper decline in heart disease SMRs was observed from 1975 to 1989 for left-sided radiotherapy, compared to right-sided. In contrast, there was a non-significant increasing trend in SMRs for chemotherapy alone, and significant by regional stage (p(trend) = 0.036). Largest declines in 10-year cumulative mortality were observed from 1975-1984 to 2005-2016 among surgery only: 7.02% (95%CI: 6.80%, 7.23%) to 4.68% (95%CI: 4.39%, 4.99%) and radiotherapy alone: 6.35% (95%CI: 5.95%, 6.77%) to 2.94% (95%CI: 2.73%, 3.16%). Conclusions We observed declining heart disease mortality trends by most treatment types yet increasing for regional stage patients treated with chemotherapy alone, highlighting a need for additional studies with detailed treatment data and cardiovascular management throughout cancer survivorship.

Automated summary

Heart disease is a significant concern among breast cancer survivors due to cardiotoxic treatments. This study found declining heart disease mortality trends among most treatment types, but increasing trends for regional stage patients treated with chemotherapy alone.