Many breast cancer survivors whose treatment caused them to develop problems with their heart function can safely stop their medication after their heart recovers and most won't need to continue treatment long-term, according to a study at UCLH, UCL and Barts Health NHS Trust and presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Munich.
The trial, funded by the British Heart Foundation and supported by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre: UCLH, involved 90 women who had recovered from heart problems caused by a specific type of breast cancer treatment. Most were in their 40s and 50s and would previously have been advised to stay on heart medication for life, due to fears their heart function would decline once the drugs were stopped.
Researchers found that 98 per cent of the group who stopped taking their heart medication had no change in their heart function after one year, with only one woman experiencing a decline in her heart's pumping ability.
Women who came off their medication also reported a slightly better quality of life at 12 months than those who continued. The study is published in the European Heart Journal.
Professor Charlotte Manisty, Head of Clinical Cardiovascular Science at University College London and consultant cardiologist at Barts Heart Centre and UCLH, said: "Our study provides the first evidence that heart failure therapies can be safely stopped in survivors whose hearts have recovered, with the support of ongoing close monitoring. We hope these findings will be encouraging for survivors and their doctors, giving hope for a future free from treatment."
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, with nearly 60,000 new cases diagnosed each year. Approximately 15 to 20 per cent of breast cancer cases are HER2-positive, meaning the breast cancer cells have higher than normal levels of a protein called HER2 on their surface.
The trial involved 90 breast cancer survivors at four hospitals in the UK who started taking heart failure medication after a diagnosis of HER2-targeted therapy-related cardiac dysfunction, but whose hearts later recovered following treatment. All study volunteers were women, with an average age of 50.
None of the group that continued to take their heart failure treatment saw a decline in their heart function.
None of the women in the trial reported any heart failure symptoms, required hospital treatment or experienced any other heart problems during the trial.
The research was covered on Radio 4’s Today Programme on 31 August. Listen here from 1:24:40.
