Taken to heart.

A major concern in the treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), particularly when it comes to radiation, is the risk of late outcomes such as heart disease. This study used a large cohort of HL survivors to develop and validate models predictive of coronary heart disease (CHD) and heart failure (HF) risk. Factors in the CHD model included gender (male), age (increasing), smoking status, and mediastinal radiation dose. Factors in the HF model included age, mediastinal radiation dose, and receipt of anthracycline chemotherapy. While the tables of CHD risk and HF risk are helpful in identifying at-risk HL survivors, they could also be instructive in estimating risk for patients considering radiation. For example, a male smoker age 30-50 who receives >35Gy to the mediastinum has a 77.8% cumulative risk of CHD over 30 years compared to just 3.6% for a female nonsmoker age 18-24 years who receives no mediastinal RT. | de Vries, J Clin Oncol 2022