Breast Arterial Calcifications as a Risk Factor for Cardiovascular Disease in Breast Cancer Patients

Maureen Cleary* and Christopher Bianco

Heart and Vascular Institute, Ruby Memorial Hospital, Morgantown, WV 26506

Presentation Category: Biological & Biochemical Sciences (Poster Presentation #92)

Student’s Major: Biology

Breast arterial calcification (BAC) is calcific, atherosclerotic disease of the small arteries of the breasts and is seen on mammograms. Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) is a condition in which the vasculature suffers from atherosclerotic changes manifest as sclerotic or thromboembolic disease. Patients with ASCVD can experience a wide range of symptoms including anginal chest discomfort, coronary events, claudication, cerebral vascular events, decreased functional capacity, or arrhythmias. According to the CDC in 2019, 301,280 women died due to heart disease, making it the leading cause of death in women. Although not the deadliest cancer in women, 13% of American women develop breast cancer during their lives. Breast cancer combined with cardiovascular disease is a deadly combination and some cancer therapies can precipitate ASCVD events. BAC is being researched to determine if it is a risk factor or biomarker surrogate for ASCVD in breast cancer patients. If it is, detecting BAC will allow providers to deliver a treatment plan to give patients the best chance of beating cancer without ASCVD events. Currently, our research project has not gotten any concrete results, but we hope to gain preliminary results soon. We expect our results to confirm those of other studies such as Dr. Jung-Won Suh’s (et al), which concluded that BAC is associated with CVD, and could be used as a risk factor in predictions. We hope that our research will be used to identify women with breast cancer who could be at a higher risk for developing cancer therapy related ASCVD events.

Funding: Heart and Vascular Institute of Ruby Memorial Hospital

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: WVU's Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP) & accompanying HONR 297-level course