Incidence of chemotherapy‐related cardiac dysfunction in cancer patients

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundCancer patients are increasingly affected by chemotherapy‐related cardiac dysfunction. The reported incidence of this condition vary significantly across different studies.HypothesisA better comprehensive understanding of chemotherapy‐related cardiac dysfunction incidence in cancer patients is imperative. Therefore, we performed a meta‐analysis to establish the overall incidence of chemotherapy‐related cardiac dysfunction in cancer patients.MethodsWe searched articles in PubMed and EMBASE from database inception to May 1, 2023. Studies that reported the incidence of chemotherapy‐related cardiac dysfunction in cancer patients were included.ResultsA total of 53 studies involving 35 651 individuals were finally included in the meta‐analysis. The overall pooled incidence of chemotherapy‐related cardiac dysfunction in cancer patients was 63.21 per 1000 person‐years (95% CI: 57.28−69.14). The chemotherapy‐related cardiac dysfunction incidence increased steeply within half a year of cancer chemotherapy. Also, the trend of chemotherapy‐related cardiac dysfunction incidence appeared to have plateaued after a longer duration of follow‐up. In addition, chemotherapy‐related cardiac dysfunction incidence rates are significantly higher among patients with age ≥50 years versus patients with age <50 years (99.96 vs. 34.48 per 1000 person‐years). The incidence rate of cardiac dysfunction was higher among breast cancer patients (72.97 per 1000 person‐years), leukemia patients (65.21 per 1000 person‐years), and lymphoma patients (55.43 per 1000 person‐years).ConclusionOur meta‐analysis unveiled a definitive overall incidence rate of chemotherapy‐related cardiac dysfunction in cancer patients. In addition, it was found that the risk of developing this condition escalates within the initial 6 months postchemotherapy, subsequently tapering off to become statistically insignificant after a duration of 6 years.