Heart Attack Elevates Risk of Breast Cancer Recurrence: Study

Mice that experienced heart attacks underwent a large-scale shift in their immune systems that allowed cancer to flourish, perhaps explaining the observation in patients.

Written byAmanda Heidt

| 4 min read

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breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, heart attack, chemotherapy, cancer, cancer risk, women's health, oncology

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A couple of years ago, Kathryn Moore, the director of the Cardiovascular Research Center at NYU Langone Health, came across a study that made her pause. Researchers had tracked the cardiovascular outcomes of breast cancer patients and found that among women with only one or two risk factors—such as family history, hypertension, or diabetes—30 percent experienced a cardiovascular event, a troubling statistic that jumped to 50 percent among women with three or four risk factors. Given how frequent these events were, “I wondered whether having a heart attack affected their cancer,” says Moore, “and I was surprised to find that no one had looked at this.”

Research has long supported a link between cancer treatments such as chemotherapy that can weaken the heart and subsequent cardiovascular disease in patients. The effectiveness of modern treatments means “patients are living longer, but they’re also experiencing complications,” says Moore, ...

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Meet the Author

Amanda Heidt
Amanda first began dabbling in scicom as a master’s student studying marine science at Moss Landing Marine Labs, where she edited the student blog and interned at a local NPR station. She enjoyed that process of demystifying science so much that after receiving her degree in 2019, she went straight into a second master’s program in science communication at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Formerly an intern at The Scientist, Amanda joined the team as a staff reporter and editor in 2021 and oversaw the publication’s internship program, assigned and edited the Foundations, Scientist to Watch, and Short Lit columns, and contributed original reporting across the publication. Amanda’s stories often focus on issues of equity and representation in academia, and she brings this same commitment to DEI to the Science Writers Association of the Rocky Mountains and to the board of the National Association of Science Writers, which she has served on since 2022. She is currently based in the outdoor playground that is Moab, Utah. Read more of her work at www.amandaheidt.com.
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