Principles of a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) for breast cancer patients receiving potentially cardiotoxic adjuvant treatments

Socioeconomic disparities in the prevalence of comorbid chronic conditions among Canadian adults with cancer

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the prevalence of comorbid chronic conditions among Canadian adults with cancer and the impact of socioeconomic background on the distribution of these conditions.

METHODS

Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) 2017-2018 dataset was accessed and individuals with complete information about cancer history were reviewed. The prevalence of the following 10 chronic conditions was reviewed: asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, arthritis, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia/hyperlipidemia, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, mood disorder, and anxiety disorder. Stratification of the prevalence was done according to age, sex, and racial subgroups. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was done to evaluate the association between sociodemographic characteristics and having multiple comorbid conditions.

RESULTS

A total of 104,362 participants were included in the current study (including 10,782 participants with a history of cancer; and 93,580 participants without a history of cancer). Among all age, sex, and race strata, participants with a history of cancer were more likely to have multiple chronic conditions (p < 0.05 for all comparisons). The most common three individual comorbid conditions among participants with cancer were arthritis (40.2%), hypertension (36.1%), and hypercholesterolemia (25.2%); while the most common cancer-comorbidity triad among participants with cancer was cancer/arthritis/hypertension (17.7%). In a multivariable logistic regression analysis among participants with cancer, the following sociodemographic factors were associated with having multiple comorbid conditions: older age (OR for age 80+ versus age 18-20 years: 8.32; 95% CI: 5.17-13.39), indigenous racial group (OR: 1.94; 95% CI: 1.43-2.63) and lower income (OR for income ≥80,000 Canadian dollars (CAD) versus income: ≤20,000 CAD: 0.29; 95% CI: 0.23-0.37).

CONCLUSION

History of cancer is associated with a higher probability of many comorbid conditions. This excess comorbidity burden seems to be unequally shouldered by individuals in the lower socioeconomic stratum as well as minority populations.

Impact of Baseline Cardiovascular Comorbidity on Outcomes in Women With Breast Cancer: A Real-world, Population-based Study

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this study was to characterize treatment trends and outcomes of women who have preexisting cardiovascular disease (CVD) prior to the diagnosis of breast cancer.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This represented a retrospective, population-based cohort study that analyzed pooled data from the provincial cancer registry, physician billing claims, hospital discharge abstracts, ambulatory care, and the 2011 census in a large Canadian province. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to identify the associations of CVD with breast cancer treatment and outcomes. Kaplan-Meier analyses were conducted and survival was compared between CVD and non-CVD groups. Cox regression models were constructed to determine the effect of CVD on overall and cancer-specific survival.

RESULTS

A total of 25,594 women with breast cancer were eligible and included in the current analysis. Preexisting CVD was associated with a lower likelihood of receiving chemotherapy (odds ratio [OR], 0.56; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.48-0.66; P < .0001) and radiotherapy (OR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.67-0.83; P < .0001), but a higher probability of undergoing mastectomy (OR, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.03-1.25; P = .011). Unadjusted Kaplan-Meier analyses showed that individuals with preexisting CVD experienced worse median overall and cancer-specific survival when compared with those without CVD (87 vs. 150 months and 106 vs. 131 months, respectively; both P < .0001). Adjusting for measured confounders, the presence of preexisting CVD continued to predict for worse overall survival (hazard ratio, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.43-1.67; P < .0001), but not cancer-specific survival (hazard ratio, 1.11; 95% CI, 0.98-1.27; P = .099).

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with breast cancer with preexisting CVD are less likely to receive recommended treatment for their cancer and more likely to exhibit worse overall survival.

Patterns of on-treatment cardiac adverse events within three clinical trials of adjuvant anthracycline-based chemotherapy

BACKGROUND

This study aims to assess the patterns of development of on-treatment cardiac side effects among patients with early breast cancer receiving anthracycline-based chemotherapy.

METHODS

This is a pooled analysis of patient-level data of patients with early-stage breast cancer who were recruited into three clinical trials to receive different adjuvant chemotherapy regimens. Univariable and multivariable analyses of factors predicting the development of on-treatment cardiac adverse events were conducted through logistic regression analysis. The following factors were evaluated in the univariable analysis: age, menopausal status, body mass index, T stage, and type of chemotherapy protocol.

RESULTS

Among the studied patients, 226 patients (6.7%) experienced 230 incidents of on-treatment cardiac toxicities. Cardiac ischemia was reported among 8 patients, cardiac dysfunction was reported among 19 patients, arrhythmias were reported in 161 patients and other non-specified forms of cardiac adverse events were reported in 42 patients. In univariable logistic regression, the following parameters were predictive of a higher probability of on-treatment cardiac adverse events (P < 0.05): higher age, higher body mass index and FAC chemotherapy protocol. When these factors were included in the multivariable logistic regression analysis, the following factors were predictive of a higher probability of cardiac adverse events: higher body mass index (P = 0.050) and FAC chemotherapy protocol (P = 0.001).

CONCLUSION

On-treatment cardiac events are not uncommon during adjuvant chemotherapy for early breast cancer. Higher dose of anthracyclines and higher body mass index are associated with a higher risk of on-treatment cardiac events.

Risk of cardiac death among cancer survivors in the United States: a SEER database analysis

BACKGROUND

Population-based data on the risk of cardiac death among cancer survivors are needed. This scenario was evaluated in cancer survivors (>5 years) registered within the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database.

METHODS

The SEER database was queried using SEER*Stat to determine the frequency of cardiac death compared to other causes of death; and to determine heart disease-specific and cancer-specific survival rates in survivors of each of the 10 most common cancers in men and women in the SEER database.

RESULTS

For cancer-specific survival rate, the highest rates were related to thyroid cancer survivors; while the lowest rates were related to lung cancer survivors. For heart disease-specific survival rate, the highest rates were related to thyroid cancer survivors; while the lowest rates were related to both lung cancer survivors and urinary bladder cancer survivors. The following factors were associated with a higher likelihood of cardiac death: male gender, old age at diagnosis, black race and local treatment with radiotherapy rather than surgery (P < 0.0001 for all parameters).

CONCLUSION

Among cancer survivors (>5 years), cardiac death is a significant cause of death and there is a wide variability among different cancers in the relative importance of cardiac death vs. cancer-related death.