Increased Risk of Cardiovascular Death in Breast Cancer Patients Without Chemotherapy or (and) Radiotherapy: A Large Population-Based Study

Cardiovascular death (CVD) in breast cancer patients without chemotherapy (CT) or (and) radiotherapy (RT) has not been studied yet. This study evaluates the correlation between breast cancer and CVD risk independent of chemotherapy or (and) radiotherapy. Data of female breast cancer patients without receiving CT or RT were retrieved from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Result (SEER) database (2004-2015). Data were divided into two cohorts: tumor resection cohort and no resection cohort. The CVD risk in patients was expressed as standardized mortality ratios (SMRs). A 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM) was applied to balance inter-group bias, and competing risk regressions were utilized to evaluate the impact of tumor resection on CVD. The CVD risk was significantly higher (SMR = 2.196, 95% CI: 2.148-2.245,