ReviewCardio-oncology (London, England)2026
Cardioprotective medications and the incidence of cardiovascular events in patients treated with radiotherapy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Review in Cardio-oncology (London, England), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Cardiac substructure dosimetry in thoracic radiotherapy: moving beyond mean heart dose and toward precision cardiac risk mitigation.Strahlentherapie und Onkologie : Organ der Deutschen Rontgengesellschaft ... [et al] · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThe purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to explore the utilization of cardioprotective medications in patients treated with RT and assess their impact on cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events. MATERIALS/
methodsA literature search of PubMed, Embase and Scopus was performed in March 2025. Studies of adult patients treated with RT to the head and neck or thoracic regions which investigated the effects of cardioprotective medications (defined as anti-hypertensives, lipid-lowering therapies or anti-thrombotic medications) on the incidence of cardiovascular or cerebrovascular events were eligible for inclusion. Studies that reported the proportion of patients treated with RT who were utilizing cardioprotective medications as recommended by CVD guidelines were also included. Meta-analysis was performed using R with a random effects model.
resultsThere were 10 retrospective studies which were eligible for inclusion. Five of the ten studies included patients with head and neck cancer only, whilst two studies included patients with lung cancer and one study included patients with breast cancer alone. Meta-analysis of three studies suggested that patients treated with RT who received statin therapy had a reduced risk of cerebrovascular events (stroke or transient ischemic attack), with a relative risk of 0.74 (95% CI 0.60-0.90). There was no difference in major adverse cardiac events (MACE) for patients treated with RT to the head and neck or thoracic regions who received statin therapy compared to those who did not (relative risk 0.99, 95% CI 0.67 to 1.46, n = 5 studies). A meta-analysis of four studies suggested that 59% (95% CI 35% to 80%) of patients treated with RT not on statin therapy had indications for commencement of these medications.
conclusionCurrent evidence exploring the impact of cardioprotective medications on CVD risk in patients treated with RT is heterogenous and limited to retrospective non-randomized studies. A considerable proportion of patients undergoing RT are not being prescribed cardioprotective medications as suggested by existing CVD guidelines.
Identifiers
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.