Drugs to Protect the Heart during Breast Cancer Treatment

When taken in combination with chemotherapy, heart medication can reduce the risk of a person with early stage breast cancer from experiencing serious cardiovascular damage. Existing research studies have shown some cancer therapies like Herceptin can greatly improve survival rates for people with early stage breast cancer, but it comes with a fivefold risk of heart failure.

Study

A new study done over a span of five years was performed by researchers at the University of Alberta and Alberta Health Services. The study was funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and Alberta Cancer Foundation. Results of the study showed two types of heart medications, beta blockers and ACE inhibitors, effectively prevent a decrease in heart function from cancer treatment.

Dr. Edith Pituckin, a co-investigator of the MANTICORE trial stated, “We think this is practice-changing. This will improve the safety of the cancer treatment that we provide.”

Pituskin, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Nursing and Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alabama, presented the findings of the study at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
In a double blind trial, 100 patients from Manitoba and Alberta with early stage breast cancer were picked at random to get either a beta blocker or ACE inhibitor for a year. ACE inhibitors and beta blockers are medications that are used for treating several different medical conditions, including heart failure.

Over a period of two years, cardiac MRI images were taken and it showed patients who got beta blockers had fewer signs of heart weakening than the placebo group. The group that received ACE inhibitors also received heart protecting effects.

Lead study author, Dr. Ian Paterson, a cardiologist at the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute said these drugs not only protected a person against damage to their heart, but could improve breast cancer survival rates by limiting the interruptions of chemotherapy. Any time a person shows signs of heart weakening, Dr. Paterson said, chemotherapy is halted immediately, sometimes for a couple of months, until the heart function goes back to normal.

Dr. Paterson stated, “We are aiming for two outcomes for these patients- we’re hoping to prevent heart failure and we’re hoping for them to receive all the chemotherapy that they are meant to get, when they are supposed to get it- to improve their odds of remission and survival.”

Conclusion to the Study:

The results of this study are expected to have a direct impact on the clinical practical guidelines in Canada and more than likely, beyond. Dr. Steven Robbins, scientific director at the Cancer Institute says, “Every day in Canada, around 68 women are diagnosed with breast cancer. This discovery holds real promise for improving these women’s quality of life and health outcomes.”

Dr. Paterson said the team is also investigating ways to prevent heart complications in patients with other cancers, noting several more therapies have been linked with heart complications. The team plans on publishing the initial findings in a peer-reviewed journal in the first half of 2016.

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