Although breast cancer survivors may focus on their long-term risk of recurrence, most of these women should be just as concerned about their hearts, medical researchers reported at a San Francisco oncology conference this week.

According to WebMD, the 10-year risk of a serious cardiovascular event was at least as high as the risk of breast cancer for 78% of women, Dr. Aditya Bardia of Johns Hopkins and colleagues reported at the ASCO Breast Cancer Symposium.

Findings of their preliminary studies don’t negate the importance of long-term management of breast cancer risk, Dr. Bardia said, but suggest more attention to the bigger picture. “Other things are also important,” he said. He also cautioned that these results were estimates, based on prognostic tools, rather than actual outcome data, and noted that the study did not factor in potentially important variables including obesity, diabetes, and the effect of breast cancer treatment on risk.

Dr. Rowan Chlebowski of Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles and chair of the session where the results were presented, said this link is a consistent message emerging in breast oncology.  ”Breast cancer patients need more attention to cardiovascular health regardless of their risk level,” he said. “We need more interaction with cardiologists.” (more…)