Impact of cardio-oncology strategies in the management of breast cancer patients

Abstract Background Cardio-oncology has arisen as one of the most rapidly expanding fields of cardiovascular medicine. The accumulated evidence on the possibilities of early diagnosis of cardiotoxicity provided by imaging techniques as well as on the benefits of preventive and therapeutic interventions is also increasing. Objective This study reported our echocardiography lab's initial experience of a cardio-oncology follow-up program. Methods We prospectively studied the outcomes of 107 patients diagnosed with breast cancer who attended our follow-up program between 2017 and 2020. An echocardiographic monitoring were realised according to the chemotherapy protocol. Cancer therapy-related cardiac dysfunction (CTRCD) is defined, according to the european society of cardiology (ESC) guidelines of 2016, as a drop of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) by >10 percentage points from baseline to a value 15% from baseline, however, LVEF remains >50%. The diagnosis should be confirmed by a second echocardiogram after 2–3 weeks. Results We enrolled 107 patients diagnosed with breast cancer and receiving anthracycline and/or trastuzumab. 27 patients were excluded for many reasons: 17 patients were lost to follow-up, 10 patients had an inadequate echo-imaging (8 had a follow-up without measurement of GLS and 2 patients were poorly echogenic). Only eighty patients were finally retained. The average age of our patients was 49.9±10.8 years. The mean left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was at 64±4.4%. The incidence of CTRCD was 6%. the mean delay of diagnosis from the onset of chemotherapy was 174 days. It was reversible in 60% of cases after the initiation of a cardioprotective treatment which allowed the anti-cancer treatment pursuit. The incidence of subclinical cardiac dysfunction was 25%. The mean delay between the initiation of anti-cancer treatment and the diagnosis was 314.5 days. A cardioprotective treatment with Bblockers and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors was prescribed and all these patients recovered a normal GLS with a mean delay of three months and pursuied their chemotherapy. Conclusion We showed that timely cardiovascular evaluation, intervention and close monitoring in the context of a structured service allowed the majority of patients (99%) to pursue their anti-cancer treatment and to avoid the evolution t