Weight gain after breast cancer development tied to heart failure risk

For women with newly diagnosed invasive breast cancer (BC), weight gain is associated with an increased risk for heart failure, according to a research letter published online Jan. 9 in JAMA Oncology.

Wonyoung Jung, M.D., Ph.D., from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues examined the association between weight changes and heart failure risk after BC development using the National Health Insurance Service database of the Republic of Korea. The cohort included 43,717 women newly diagnosed with invasive BC without prior heart failure before or within one year of diagnosis. Weight change was assessed from screenings before (zero to two years) and after (0.5 to 2.5 years) BC diagnosis and was classified based on percentage changes.

The researchers found that 6.1, 15.7, 63.9, 10.7, and 3.5% of patients had more than 10% weight loss, had 5 to 10% weight loss, maintained weight, had 5 to 10% weight gain, and had more than 10% weight gain, respectively.

After adjusting for cardiovascular risk factors, cancer treatment, and sociodemographic factors, 5 to 10% weight gain was associated with an increased risk for heart failure (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.59) and more than 10% weight gain was associated with further increased risk (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.85) compared with weight maintainers during a mean follow-up of 4.67 years. There was no association seen for weight loss with heart failure risk.

“The findings underscore the importance of effective weight intervention in the oncological care of patients with BC, particularly within the first few years after diagnosis, to protect cardiovascular health,” the authors write.

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