Study of the Cardiovascular and Psychosocial Effects of the Treatment of Breast Cancer With Chemotherapy and/or Radiotherapy

Background:

Due to screening and progress in treatment the overall survival of women treated for breast cancer has increased over the last decades. Therefore, the long-term effects of breast cancer have emerged as an important topic. An increased mortality is seen within years post treatment due to an increased incidence of cardiac dysfunction among survivors of breast cancer. This increased mortality is related to long term side effects of treatment with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Earlier studies into this topic have focused on specific patient groups and therefore these results are difficult to translate to the general population. Furthermore, most echo graphic studies have focused on the systolic dysfunction of the heart, which is a late stage of the cardiac deterioration. Detecting cardiotoxicity early on provides the opportunity for early treatment and might therewith prevent deterioration of cardiac function and improve the prognosis of patients

Objectives:

Primary objective

1. To assess the risk of a systolic and / or diastolic cardiac dysfunction at echocardiography of breast cancer patients compared to matched controls.