Long-term survivors of ovarian malignancies after cisplatin-based chemotherapy: cardiovascular risk factors and signs of vascular damage

dMale germ cell tumour patients treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy frequently develop cardiovascular risk factors and disease, but sparse information is available about long-term complications of this type of chemotherapy in women. We investigated the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and vascular damage in 21 women (median age 39 years; range 26-57 years) with an epithelial or germ cell tumour of the ovary cured by cisplatin-based chemotherapy after a median follow-up of 14 years (range 3-21 years). Hypercholesterolaemia was present in 62%, obesity in 24%, hypertension in 14%, insulin resistance in 14%, and microalbuminuria in 24% of patients. Microalbuminuria was more frequent in long-term cancer survivors than in a female background population with a similar age (23.8 versus 3.2%; P <0.05). A substantial portion of young female patients cured by cisplatin-based chemotherapy are likely to develop cardiovascular risk factors and signs of endothelial damage at an early stage. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.