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Heart Disease (Expert Forum)
Amiodarone and cancer
This forum is for questions and support regarding heart issues such as: Angina, Angioplasty, Arrhythmia, Bypass Surgery, Cardiomyopathy, Coronary Artery Disease, Defibrillator, Heart Attack, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Mitral Valve Prolapse, Pacemaker, PAD, Stenosis, Stress Tests.
Amiodarone and cancer
by Madelyn__0, Mar 18, 1998 12:00AM
Posted By CCF CARDIO MD - MTR on March 23, 1998 at 19:55:30:
In Reply to: Amiodarone and cancer posted by Madelyn on March 18, 1998 at 22:57:43:
Is it true that long-term use of Cordarone causes lung cancer? If so, what is a long term and what alternative drug is appropriate?
In Reply to: Amiodarone and cancer posted by Madelyn on March 18, 1998 at 22:57:43:
Is it true that long-term use of Cordarone causes lung cancer? If so, what is a long term and what alternative drug is appropriate?
Doctor's Answer
by CCF Cardio MD - MTR, Mar 18, 1998 12:00AM
Dear Madelyn, thank you for your question. Cordarone (amiodarone) does not cause lung
cancer with long-term usage, but it does have pulmonary toxicity that is not related to
cancer. In 5-10% of the patients who take amiodarone long-term, pulmonary fibrosis can develop and usually occurs after 3 months of continuous therapy. When this happens, patient experience progressive shortness of breath and sometimes have a dry, hacking cough. Chest x-rays will shown a diffuse thickening of the walls that line the sacks of the lung (called alveoli) and pulmonary function tests will show a diminished capacity of the lungs to exchange air. When amiodarone is discontinued after this process occurs, symptoms improve in some patients but there is no specific treatment for amiodarone-induced lung toxicity. We do know that patients with lung disease to begin with have a greater chance of developing lung toxicity from amiodarone but otherwise, it's difficult to predict which patients taking amiodarone will develop this problem.
As far as alternative treatments go, there are a number of other anti-arrhythmic drugs that control abnormal heart rhythyms that have fewer side effects than amiodarone. These medications are also effective in treating disorders of the heart rhythyms. Your regular cardiologist/physician could certainly discuss the individual merits and risks of each drug if alternative treatments are being considered.
There was an excellent review of amiodarone in the March, 1998 issue of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation Journal of Medicine and you could obtain a copy of that article in any medical library. I hope this information helps.
Information provided in the heart forum is for general purposes only. Specific diagnoses and therapies can only be provided by your physician.
