Bad Heart After Treatment

mim7

just wondering if anyone has heard of a class action lawsuit against the Company that makes Adriamycin and Cytoxin. I to have a bad heart now and all my Doctors say it is because of my Chemotherapy and Radiation after my breast cancer.  If so could you please let me know.  I have also had to have a Implanted cardic defibrilator and am taking a dozen or so medications now.  My E.F. was at 10% when i was diagnosed with Cardiomyopathy/CHF.  I had a lumpectomy and then was told that i had Her/2 and needed those treatments, also not to worry about heart problems afterwards.

edwards750

mim - I have not heard about that. I had a lumpectomy and RADS; I am 3 years out from my BC DX for Stage II, Grade 1. I knew there could be problems down the road with my heart and lungs. I took the gamble. If the companies lose this lawsuit it could have a huge impact on the treatment of breast cancer. Sorry you are having medical issues. Diane 

leggo

Hi mim. I'm sorry to hear about how chemo and rads affected you. Unfortunately, adriamycin (among others) can affect heart function. I know when I was given the consent form for both chemo and rads, it was mentioned and I signed. As long as they had made you aware of the potential damage on the form or given you the literature, there probably isn't much you can do, legally. Someone telling you not to worry about the heart problems afterwards must be difficult to swallow. I'd be angry too. I'm not a lawyer though so maybe someone with some legal expertise will chime in. 

lgoldie

My ejection fraction was 70 before Adriamyacin.  I work in the medical field and I will be interested to see what happens to it after Adriamyacin.  My onc glossed over the possible damage, but I already knew.  She seemed ok with the risk from just 4 treatments.  I guess I was, too.   We shall see.  You can live a LONG life with congestive heart failure...but breast cancer...no.   Good luck.

encyclias

I had asked my partner's elderly cardiologist what he thought about Adriamycin, which he was very familiar with.  I was mostly curious why it had such a terrible reputation when it only has a 1% risk of CHF now.  His answer was: back when it was first introduced decades ago, he always had a waiting room full of patients due to heart damage by Adriamycin.  Nowadays, he hasn't had a patient  with this problem 'for a very long time.'  He asked if they were still using it.

I told him it is still commonly used.  He thought about it a bit and said that apparently, doctors are now screening people for heart health before using the drug.  He said back in the 'old' days, almost all of his Adriamycin patients already had had serious heart problems before the chemo and should never have had this drug to begin with.  "They must be screening them much better than before."  I told him a MUGA scan or an echocardiogram are now more or less required.  He was quite happy to hear that.

mim7, sorry this is happening to you.  What was your EF before chemo?  My MUGA scan showed 69% back in Oct 2012, and one late last year showed it still in the upper 60s -- can't remember whether it was exactly the same or there was a point or two difference +/-.  I was 64 years old, diabetic, when I got the Adriamycin.  I suppose I am one of the fortunate 99% who hasn't  ended up with heart problems.

I wonder if anyone has looked at the congestive heart failure rate with Herceptin.  Seems to run from 2%-20% , the higher number reflecting its combination with other chemo drugs, the lower by itself.  No one seems to pay much attention to these numbers.  Any cancer drug has it's own dangers.

(I have edited this so much; my brain is not keeping up with my fingers this morning)

Carol

LRM216

Mim7: 

I am very sorry to hear of your heart problems stemming from your treatments.  I also had A/C as the first half of my chemo; however, my oncologist told me prior to treatment that I would have to have a MUGA or Echo cardiogram of my heart in order to see if I qualifed for treatment with this drug and also told me about the small percentage of women that go on, years later, to develop a leukemia type blood disorder (Robin Williams from Good Morning America did develop it), and also told me of the possible heart problems, to varying degrees, that were also associated with the drug.  It  was my choice, after my heart testing, to go ahead with the drug, and I truly feel having had it and 4 DD Taxotere that followed is the reason I am still here, doing well today. 

Also, as for a class action against the maker, I do not think that would ever come to bear as these fact s are well known as to the use of this drug.   Those with prior heart problems are not even offered it, and I had to sign papers prior to my starting chemo, which releases the maker of the drug from most, if not all, future problems. 

I am sorry you have had to deal with these additional heart issues and wish you well.

leggo

Just in case anyone has major concerns about adriamycin....there is another doxirubicin based drug with less toxicity to the heart (not much, but every little bit helps). It's called myocet. I was on that when adriamycin proved too toxic and my heart function stayed stable throughout the treatment. With adriamycin my heart function crashed and burned.