A study has found that the risk of cardiovascular diseases, such as myocardial infarction and stroke, increases if the weight of breast cancer patients goes up. This indicates that consistent weight management is essential for breast cancer patients who tend to gain weight due to treatments like chemotherapy and hormone therapy.
Professor Shin Dong-wook from Samsung Seoul Hospital’s Department of Family Medicine, Professor Han Kyung-do from Soongsil University’s Department of Statistics, and Dr. Jeong Won-young from the University of Pennsylvania revealed these findings on the 23rd. Many breast cancer patients undergo anti-hormonal treatments, like tamoxifen, and experience weight gain due to reduced physical activity.
The research team focused on the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and heart failure (a condition where the heart doesn’t supply enough blood to the body’s tissues) based on weight changes before and after cancer diagnosis. To investigate, they tracked 43,000 patients who completed breast cancer treatment between 2010 and 2016. These patients were categorized based on their weight change: more than 10% loss, 5-10% loss, stable within 5%, 5-10% gain, and more than 10% gain. They were observed over an average of 4.7 years.
Results showed that patients who gained more than 10% of their weight since being diagnosed with breast cancer had a 66% increased risk of cardiovascular diseases compared to the stable weight group. Among them, the risk of myocardial infarction and stroke increased by 83%, and heart failure was similarly impacted. Patients whose weight increased by 5-10% and those with over 10% gain had their risk of developing cardiovascular issues increased by 59% and 85%, respectively.
The impact of obesity or weight gain was particularly significant among younger breast cancer patients under 50. Those who were obese at the time of diagnosis had a 3.58 times higher risk of cardiovascular diseases compared to their non-obese counterparts.
Dr. Jeong Won-young noted that breast cancer often occurs in people in their 40s and 50s and can lead to menopausal changes and weight gain due to cancer treatments, emphasizing the importance of weight management to reduce the risk of cancer recurrence and cardiovascular diseases.
The researchers stressed the importance for breast cancer patients to maintain an appropriate weight through diet control and moderate or higher levels of exercise. For those struggling with weight control, they suggested considering medication treatments, such as the recently highlighted obesity drugs (GLP-1 analogs).
Professor Shin Dong-wook highlighted that in the United States and elsewhere, “onco-cardiology” programs are being established to manage the cardiovascular health of cancer patients. He emphasized the need for similar programs in Korea to provide comprehensive care for both cancer treatment and cardiovascular health. This study was published in recent issues of the international journals ‘Breast Cancer Research and Treatment’ and ‘JAMA Oncology’.