Aggressive Treatment Problematic for Childhood Cancer Survivors

A new study indicates that childhood cancer survivors who received aggressive chemotherapy are at increased risk for heart problems. It is already known that chemotherapy, particularly with anthracyclines, and radiation to the chest can increase risk for heart damage among childhood cancer survivors.

To better understand the risk, Dr. Veronica Velensek and colleagues at the University Children's Hospital Ljubljana in Slovenia performed a number of tests of heart structure and function on 211 children who had survived at least five years and were treated between 1968 and 1998. More than one-half of the children tested had signs of heart damage. Those treated most recently generally had the most damage and had all been treated with intensive chemotherapy.

Survivors who had received radiation therapy were at increased risk of heart valve disease. Those who had been treated for Hodgkin's disease between 1968 and 1988 faced the greatest risk. However, the researchers pointed out that since that time, radiation therapy and shielding techniques have improved.

The study appears in the May 20, 2008 issue of BMC Cancer.