Abstract
We identified 3910 elderly (>65 yrs) patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) who received doxorubicin-based (+/−rituximab) therapy and 77 347 cancer-free controls, and assessed cardiovascular events and survival in relation to preexisting cardiovascular comorbidities. Compared to controls, patients with DLBCL had a 3.4-fold (95%CI 3.0–3.9) and 2.5-fold (95%CI 2.3–2.7) increased risk of congestive heart failure (CHF)/cardiomyopathy (CM) within 6 months and 3 years of diagnosis, respectively. Risk of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was similarly increased. The risk of CHF/CM and AMI was significantly higher in those patients with DLBCL (vs. controls) who did not report preexisting cardiovascular disease, compared to those who had preexisting cardiovascular disease; this was due to dose reductions of doxorubicin among patients with preexisting cardiovascular disease. Rituximab improved survival in patients with stage III–IV (but not I–II) disease (p-interaction = 0.0003). Our novel findings emphasize the need to reduce cardiac toxicity of doxorubicin in elderly DLBCL patients.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the Intramural Program of the NCI.
Potential conflict of interest
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