Cardiac function in childhood cancer survivors treated with vincristine: Echocardiographic results from the DCCSS LATER 2 CARD study

Background: Anthracyclines and radiotherapy involving the heart region are cardiotoxic, but the potential cardiotoxicity of vincristine remains unknown. We assessed cardiac function in vincristine-treated >5-year childhood cancer survivors (CCS). Methods and results: We cross-sectionally compared echocardiograms of 101 vincristine-treated CCS (median age 35 years [range: 17–53], median vincristine dose 63 mg/m 2) from the national Dutch Childhood Cancer Survivor Study, LATER cohort, to 101 age- and sex-matched controls. CCS treated with anthracyclines, radiotherapy involving the heart region, cyclophosphamide or ifosfamide were excluded. Twelve CCS (14%) versus four controls (4%; p 0.034) had a decreased left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF; men <52%, women