An interventional study of Cardiac imaging and circulating biomarkers in Breast Cancer Female, sponsored by Institut de Radioprotection et de Surete Nucleaire. Completed at 5 sites in 5 countries. Open to female participants aged 40 Years to 75 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2023-11-07.
Sponsored by Institut de Radioprotection et de Surete Nucleaire · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention
Breast cancer (BC) radiotherapy leads to coincidental radiation of the heart, resulting in increased risk of a variety of heart diseases. Identifying BC patients with the highest risk of radiation-induced cardiac complications is crucial for developing strategies for primary and secondary prevention. Little has been done on the relationship between dose distribution to different anatomical cardiac structures during radiotherapy and early cardiovascular changes that may lead to cardiac complications.
In the framework of the European project MEDIRAD, the EARLY-HEART multicenter prospective cohort was launched in August 2017, involving 5 investigating centers from France, Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Portugal. With 250 BC patients prospectively followed for 2 years, the main objective is to identify and validate the most important cardiac imaging (echocardiography, computed tomography coronary angiography, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging) and circulating biomarkers of radiation-induced cardiovascular changes arising in the first 2 years after BC radiotherapy.
EARLY-HEART is a multicentre prospective cohort study that will include 250 female primary breast cancer cases aged 40-75 years treated with postoperative radiotherapy (RT) alone after breast-conserving surgery using modern planning-CT based RT technologies and followed for 2 years after RT in one of the 5 participating hospitals. In addition to the standard follow-up, patients will need to give repeated blood samples and will undergo repeated cardiac imaging:
Imaging and circulating biomarkers measurements will be assessed at baseline before RT (ECHO, CT, MRI, BLOOD); at the end of RT (BLOOD); 6 months after RT (ECHO, MRI, BLOOD) and 24 months after RT (ECHO, CT, MRI, BLOOD).
Changes in functional and anatomical cardiac imaging and circulating biomarkers between unexposed status before RT and exposed status after RT at different time points will be first analysed to evaluate the effects of RT on the heart.
All relevant DICOM-data (including planning-CT scans and the ECHO, MRI and CT) will be centralized to the MEDIRAD-ENACT database managed by University of Groningen for automated segmentation of all cardiac substructures (including coronary arteries) to ensure uniformity of the segmentation procedure between centres. The RT planning CTs will be used to generate dose volume histograms and 3D dose maps of the heart and cardiac substructures in order to correlate the localization of any cardiovascular change with the anatomical dose distribution.
In the presence of a cardiac outcome, a multimetric Normal Tissue Complication Probability (NTCP) individual risk model will be constructed and an integrative clinical-biologic risk score will be developed for individual risk prediction.
Exclusion Criteria:
Cardiac imaging and circulating biomarkers measurements to evaluate: * myocardial dysfunction and deformation (ECHO-ST) * coronary artery lesions and coronary artery calcium score (CT) * myocardium including tissue abnormalities, cardiac morphology and function (MRI) * blood-based biomarkers of cardiovascular changes (BLOOD)
Other: Cardiac imaging and circulating biomarkers
Automated 2D-speckle-tracking echocardiography (ECHO-ST); Computed tomography coronary angiography (CT); Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); Blood samples for circulating biomarkers measurements (BLOOD)
Number of patients with decreased myocardial function assessed by echocardiography
Number of patients with an increased of at least 2.5% in the Global Longitudinal Strain (GLS) between baseline and 2 years after radiotherapy
Time frame: 2 years after radiotherapy (baseline measurements performed before radiotherapy)
Changes in myocardial function measurements assessed by echocardiography
Increase of the segmental strain measurements (unit of measures:%)
Time frame: 6 months and 2 years after radiotherapy (baseline measurements performed before radiotherapy)
Anatomical changes in coronary arteries assessed by cardiac CT
Increase of the number of coronary segments containing any plaque or increase of the calcium score
Time frame: 2 years after radiotherapy (baseline measurements performed before radiotherapy)
Myocardial tissue abnormalities assessed by cardiac MRI
Increase of the native mean myocardial T1 mapping value
Time frame: 6 months and 2 years after radiotherapy (baseline measurements performed before radiotherapy)
Changes in circulating biomarkers measurements
Significant increase or decrease in the following biomarkers: classical biomarkers of cardiac injury (C-reactive protein, Troponin I, Troponin T, B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-Pro BNP), beta2-Microglobulin, Galectin 3); Inflammatory cytokines; biomarkers of endothelial activation and dysfunction; Microparticles; MicroRNAs; circulating DNA methylation
Time frame: at the end of radiotherapy (through radiotherapy completion, an average of 5 weeks after starting date of radiotherapy), 6 months and 2 years after radiotherapy (baseline measurements performed before radiotherapy)
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Institut de Radioprotection et de Surete Nucleaire