Breast Cancer Radiation Has Long-Term Heart Effects
Mar-14-2013

Radiation treatment for breast cancer, given after breast-conserving surgery and sometimes after mastectomy, is known to reduce the risk of the cancer returning and death from the disease. But the therapy comes with its own risk.
The treatment has been found to increase the odds of developing heart disease later, through incidental radiation exposure to the heart. In a new study, researchers evaluated the magnitude of that risk.
"For the vast majority of my patients, I can reassure them about the risk to the heart," said Dr. Carolyn Taylor, a consultant clinical oncologist at the Clinical Trial Service Unit at the University of Oxford, in England.
"This is showing that, for the vast majority of women, the benefits of breast cancer radiation outweigh the risks [to the heart]," Taylor said.

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