Women who were treated with radiation for breast cancer during
the 1980s may be at an increased risk for heart disease compared
with the general population, according to a new study in the
March 7 Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Despite this
increased risk of heart disease, radiation therapy has been
previously shown to improve the chances of surviving breast
cancer. Breast cancer patients treated with radiation therapy
during the 1970s are thought to have an increased risk of
cardiovascular disease, but those treatment procedures are now
considered obsolete. However, studies on the association between
more modern radiation therapies and cardiovascular disease in
breast cancer survivors have been inconclusive. Maartje Hooning,
M.D., of the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam, and
colleagues compared radiation treatment options, looking for
differences in heart disease incidence among 4,414 10-year
survivors of breast cancer who were treated between 1970 and
1986. Approximately half of the pati