Breast Cancer Drug trastuzumab Linked to Risk of Heart Problems

According to new research, as many as one in 10 women taking the breast cancer drug trastuzumab will experience some type of heart problem,including congestive heart failure and a decrease in how well the heart can pump blood out of its main pumping chamber, the left ventricle.
The researchers followed three groups, each with about 1,700 women. One group did not get trastuzumab. The second group took it for one year and the third for two years. The current standard of care is one year.
Nearly 10 percent of women in the two-year group, and about 5 percent of those in the one-year group, had to discontinue the drug due to adverse cardiac problems, such as congestive heart failure, a decrease in the heart's blood-pumping ability or other issues. After stopping the drug, the blood pumping problems resolved in more than 87 percent of the two-year group and more than 81 percent of the one-year group. Researchers said that women should have a cardiac assessment before starting trastuzumab.