Chemotherapy, radiation may damage the heart for decades to come
TUESDAY, April 28, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Physicians and patients should be aware of the persistently increased risk of cardiovascular diseases throughout life after Hodgkin’s lymphoma, according to a report published online April 27 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Flora van Leeuwen, Ph.D., of the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam, and colleagues examined the medical records of 2,524 Dutch patients who were treated for Hodgkin’s lymphoma between 1965 and 1995, and were diagnosed before the age of 51. The researchers tracked them for as long as 40 years.
The research uncovered a four- to seven-fold higher risk of coronary heart disease or heart failure in these Hodgkin’s survivors compared to people who had never had the disease.
“The results of our study may direct guidelines for follow-up of patients with Hodgkin’s lymphoma,” the authors write.
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