Drug might help breast cancer patients avoid heart damage

ORLANDO, Florida: A new study suggests there may be a way to help prevent the heart damage that many breast cancer patients suffer as a result of their treatment.

Radiation and some cancer medicines beat the disease but can harm women's hearts. Patients now are sent to cardiologists for treatment after the damage has already occurred.

In a study in Norway, researchers tried to prevent the damage, by giving a drug already widely used to treat heart failure at the time women were having cancer treatment. The drug seemed to prevent heart decline but the effect was modest. A larger study is underway now to test this further.

The work was discussed Wednesday at an American Heart Association conference in Orlando.