A Feasibility Study for Women Receiving Anthracycline Chemotherapy With or Without Radiation for HER2-neu Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma
A Feasibility Study for Women Receiving Anthracycline Chemotherapy With or Without Radiation for HER2-neu Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma
The purpose of this project is to assess the feasibility of collecting plasma samples for
 cardiac biomarker assessment, and to identify if there is an associations between the
 biomarkers, echocardiographic features and the cardiac PET scan results (in patients
 receiving radiation therapy). This is the first step in a research program that has an
 overall goal of being able to predict early-treatment induced cardiotoxicity in patients with
 breast cancer.
Inclusion Criteria:

 1. Stage I-III, HER2-neu positive invasive ductal carcinoma

 2. Scheduled to receive adjuvant/neo-adjuvant 5-Fluorouracil, Epirubicin,
 Cyclophosphamide and Docetaxel (FEC-D) chemotherapy

 3. Scheduled to receive adjuvant Trastuzumab

 4. ECOG Performance status 0-2

 5. Adequate baseline imaging on transthoracic echocardiography, and baseline cardiac
 ejection fraction of ≥ 55%. Additionally, breast cancer patients≥45 years of age and
 scheduled to receive whole breast radiation therapy will receive two cardiac PET
 scans.

 Exclusion Criteria:

 1. Prior anthracycline chemotherapy

 2. History of dilated cardiomyopathy, congestive heart failure, or coronary artery
 disease

 3. Life expectancy less than 15 months

 4. Pregnant or lactating women

 5. Use of beta receptor antagonists, calcium channel antagonists, angiotensin converting
 enzyme inhibitors, or angiotensin receptor inhibitors at baseline.

 6. Previous chest wall/breast or nodal radiation.