Cardiovascular safety and hemodynamic considerations in oncology drug development – webinar highlights October 10th 2012

Abstract

Oncology drug-induced cardiotoxicity has recently been recognised as an important drug development and clinical issue. The recognition of the risks and opportunities has prompted intensive research into mechanisms of chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity and potential prevention strategies. Drug-induced blood pressure elevation has emerged as a key area of interest, both as a marker of efficacy of vascular targeted chemotherapies as well as a target for early intervention strategies. While further research is ongoing, current data strongly suggest that early intervention strategies may provide significant short- and long-term clinical benefits to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Increased cardiovascular risk factors in breast cancer survivors identified by routine measurements of body composition, resting heart rate and arterial blood pressure

“…It is highly likely that some of the patients in the CS group did take hormone replacement medication as part of their adjuvant therapy. Our results on blood pressure are similar to those recently reported by Braddock et al ( 2013) that have shown that both medication, including chemotherapy, and other adjuvant therapies (radiotherapy) had an effect on blood pressure (Braddock et al 2013). …”

“…Hormone therapy has been shown to elevate blood pressure in women (Braddock et al 2013). It is highly likely that some of the patients in the CS group did take hormone replacement medication as part of their adjuvant therapy.…”

“…This would also mean that in the lower waist circumference range the mean arterial pressure difference between CS and R patients was larger with the difference becoming smaller as waist circumference increased. A possible explanation for this difference may be associated with treatment the patient underwent (Braddock et al 2013). It has been shown that various medication types on oncology patients increases the amount of cardiovascular stress on the body (Stergiou et al 2002).…”

Increased depression and metabolic risk in postmenopausal breast cancer survivors

“…This study is limited by a small sample size, which prevented stratification by breast cancer treatments and the control of length of time post-cancer treatment. As there is evidence that breast cancer treatments, including chemical variations in drugs used for chemotherapy, may have varying effects on metabolism [ 47 ], future studies should attempt to stratify by treatment. There is limited data available on the impact of duration of survivorship on the observed relationships; however, there is evidence that subjective outcomes (i.e.…”