Long term survivors of hematopoietic cell transplants more likely to develop heart disease

Long-term survivors of hematopoietic cell transplants (HCT) are at bigger risk of developing heart disease risk factors, when compared to the general population.

When risk factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol levels are combined with exposure to pre-HCT therapy, then there is an increased risk over time of heart disease, said a study, according to research published online in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology, which was released today (October 4th).

HCT is the main treatment option for many patients with blood disorders.It consists of taking healthy blood-forming stem cells from circulating blood, bone marrow or umbilical cord blood, and using them to replace patients' damaged cells that have caused their illness.

There have been many improvements in patient outcomes due to evolving transplantation methods, resulting in an increasing number of long-term survivors. Many, however, suffer with one or more post-procedural health issue that could be chronic.

Dr Saro H Armenian, medical director of the Pediatric Survivorship Clinic in the Childhood Cancer Survivorship Program at City of Hope National Medical Center in the US, is the study's first author.

In a bid to examine risks of heart disease to HCT patients, Dr Armenian and his team developed a retrospective study based on post-HCT patients.

They looked at transplant recipient's conditioning therapy for HCT, exposure to pre-transplant chemotherapy and radiation, their type of HCT, and finally whether they developed and were treated for graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) post transplant.

Following their investigation, scientists found a higher occurrence of diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol in long-term HCT transplant survivors when compared to the general population.

Total body radiation was linked with a 1.5-fold increase in risk of developing diabetes and a 1.4-fold advancement in risk of developing high cholesterol, regardless of HCT type.

This finding authenticates preceding reports from long-term childhood and adult HCT survivors.

"Our findings show that the process of receiving a stem cell transplant alone increases a recipient's risk of developing heart disease," said the expert.

He adds that the type of transplant and whether the patient was treated for GVHD can also augment a survivor's heart disease risk.

Posted by Ben Evans.