Breast cancer is the most common type of malignancy in women and radiotherapy (RT) is an important part of treatment. Although it reduces cancer recurrence, it has been shown to cause accerelerated athnerosclerosis. This study aimed to compare the results of myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS) for ischemia investigation with coronary angiography (CAG) findings and to investigate the effect of RT on the development of coronary artery disease in breast cancer patients who underwent RT. The results of 660 patients were analyzed and compared with each other in terms of clinical, demographic, laboratory parameters and MPS results. The mean age was 57.5 years and all of them were female. When the groups were compared, the Gensini score and marking of the left anterior descending artery (LAD) area as ischemic area localization were found more, but angiographically, the rate of severe stenosis in the area indicated by MPS was found to be lower in the RT group (p < 0.001). While the sensitivity of MPS in the RT group was 67.5% and non-RT group was 88.5% (p < 0.001), the result of our study shows that the sensitivity of the MPS test is significantly lower in the patient group receiving RT.
Keywords: breast cancer; cardio-oncology; cardiotoxicity; coronary angiography; myocardial perfusion scintigraphy; radiotherapy.