Association of anthracycline with heart failure in patients treated for breast cancer or lymphoma, 1985-2010

Anthracyclines increase the risk of congestive heart failure (CHF); however, long-term cumulative incidence of CHF after anthracycline therapy is not well defined in population-based study. A retrospective case-control study of patients with breast cancer or lymphoma in Olmsted County, Minnesota, found that among patients with cancer treated with anthracycline, the cumulative incidence of CHF was 7.4% over 15 years, more than two times higher than in matched controls. The shift in risk was observed during the first year of follow-up, and persisted over the follow-up period. The cumulative incidence of CHF in a subgroup of cancer patients not treated with anthracyclines was not significantly higher than in matched controls. The authors conclude that anthracycline treatment in patients with cancer was associated with more than twice the risk of CHF compared with controls.