Obesity is a risk factor for cardiotoxicity in chemotherapy-treated patients with breast cancer

Anthracyclines remain a cornerstone of breast cancer therapy in combination with new-generation targeted drugs such as trastuzumab. Both types of drugs are major culprits in chemotherapy-induced heart disease. A recent study showed that being overweight or obese was a risk factor for cardiotoxicity in chemotherapy-treated patients with breast cancer, but it did not take into account related cardiac risk factors or other classic risk factors of cardiotoxicity produced by anthracycline and trastuzumab (e.g., older age, concomitant chemotherapy or previous radiation therapy, smoking, high blood pressure, or diabetes).