Cancer radiotherapy high risk for cardiovascular disease later in life

New research from Karolinska Institutet now suggests that cancer radiotherapy can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease later in life, a problem that is growing as more and more people survive their cancer diagnosis. Researchers reported that for an as yet unknown reason, sustained inflammation induced by post-radiotherapy changes in the gene expression in the arteries could be the cause.

Previous epidemiological studies have revealed that a course of radiotherapy increases the risk of cardiovascular disease in the same part of the body; for example, myocardial infarction after left-side breast cancer treatment, or stroke after the treatment of head and neck or brain tumours. However, scientists know very little about the biological causes of these serious side-effects, which often do not appear until many years following treatment.