The risk of cardiovascular toxicity caused by cancer radiotherapy—a narrative review

Abstract

Background and Objective: Radiotherapy is an efficient treatment for cancer. However, some cancer survivors who receive thoracic radiotherapy experience radiation-induced cardiovascular toxicity, leading to long-term impact on cardiovascular health. This review summarizes the current literature regarding the basic pathogenic mechanisms, development, and prevention of radiation-induced cardiovascular toxicity.Methods: A literature search was performed on PubMed to find reported histological observations and studies on acute and late cardiovascular toxicity in cancer patients treated with radiotherapy. A systematized review of articles on the present topic published between May 1967 and April 2021 was carried out.

Myocarditis in Cancer Patients: A Review of an Emerging Problem in Cardio-Oncology

“…The main radiation therapy-associated cardiotoxicities are acute pericarditis, myocarditis, cardiac arrhythmias, myocardial dysfunction/heart failure, and myocardial ischemia. 38 In response to ionizing radiation exposure, there is a release of proinflammatory and profibrotic cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF), interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, IL-8, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), insulin-like growth factor (IGF), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) , platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β1). TGF-β1 is known to be more closely associated with the development of tissue fibrosis; its functions include regulating cell growth and differentiation and promoting cell proliferation, inhibiting maintenance of the inflammatory response.…”

“…Figure 1 -Sequence of cardiovascular changes after exposure to ionizing radiation. Source: Adapted from Liu et al, 2022 38. …”