Cardiac Arrhythmias in Patients Treated for Lung Cancer: A Review.

Simple Summary: Anticancer treatment can lead to cardiotoxicity, including arrhythmias, which are the least understood complication. Atrial fibrillation is common in this patient population, and cancer patients may be at increased risk for thromboembolic events. Ventricular arrhythmias are less common than supraventricular arrhythmias. Diagnostic methods are the same as in patients without cancer, i.e. ECG, Holter monitoring, electrophysiological study and echocardiography. Amiodarone is recommended for supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmias. There are also possible invasive treatments for arrhythmias - transcatheter ablation and stereotactic radioablation of arrhythmias - but these are used much less frequently than drug treatment. There is limited data on atrioventricular conduction abnormalities in lung cancer, probably related to immune checkpoint inhibitor-induced myocarditis. Cancer and heart disease are leading causes of death, underscoring the importance of developing cardio-oncology and training specialists to treat cardiovascular complications in cancer patients. Cardio-oncology currently faces one of the greatest challenges in the field of health care. The main goal of this discipline is to ensure that patients treated for cancer do not suffer or die from cardiovascular disease. The number of studies on the mechanisms of heart injury during cancer treatment is constantly increasing. However, there is insufficient data on heart rhythm disorders that may result from this treatment. This issue seems to be particularly important in patients with lung cancer, in whom anticancer therapy, especially radiotherapy, may contribute to the onset of cardiac arrhythmias. The observed relationship between cardiac dosimetry and radiotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity in lung cancer treatment may explain the increased mortality from cardiovascular causes in patients after chest irradiation. Further research is essential to elucidate the role of cardiac arrhythmias in this context. Conversely, recent reports have highlighted the application of stereotactic arrhythmia radioablation (STAR) in the treatment of ventricular tachycardia. This review of available studies on the epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of arrhythmias in patients treated for lung cancer aims to draw attention to the need for regular cardiological monitoring in this group of patients. Improving cardiac care for patients with lung cancer has the potential to enhance their overall therapeutic outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]