Radiation for breast cancer is linked to narrowing of the coronary arteries
The main serious downside of radiation is potential damage to the heart. Several studies have found that women who receive radiation for breast cancer have an increased risk of heart disease and death from cardiac causes. It's a special concern for women with left-sided breast cancer, because the heart is mostly in the left chest. Since the early 1990s, technical advances have been introduced to lower the risk of exposing the heart to radiation. But it's unclear how much these newer techniques help — partly because heart disease usually develops more than 10 years after exposure, and follow-up studies have been too short. Also, it hasn't been clear exactly how radiation damages the heart.
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