Women with a history of cardiotoxicity from previous cancer treatments are around 30 percent more likely to experience clinical congestive heart failure (CHF) before, during or after pregnancy, according to research published ahead of print in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

While heart failure (HF) is an uncommon complication of breast cancer, a new study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology notes individuals treated with trastuzumab-based chemotherapy have a higher risk for HF—but they are not monitored for it, despite recommendations.

As life expectancy continues to expand for cancer patients, clinicians are increasingly dealing with oncological complications like cardiotoxicity, according to a medical team in the Netherlands—and those doctors are met with a paucity of research on the topic.

According to research presented during the 21st annual scientific sessions of the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) in San Diego this week, cardiac troponin plasma concentrations and longitudinal strain can predict the development of cardiotoxicity in patients treated with anthracyclines and trastuzumab chemotherapies.