Cardiac wasting in head and neck cancer and in cardiac autopsies from different cancer types: A study in a chemo-naïve setting

Background: Cardiac wasting is a detrimental consequence of cancer that has been traditionally ignored and often misinterpreted as an iatrogenic effect. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study on 42 chemo-naive patients affected by locally advanced head and neck cancer (HNC). Based on unintentional weight loss, patients were divided into cachectic and non-cachectic. Left ventricular mass (LVM), LV wall thickness (LVWT), interventricular septal (IVS) thickness, left ventricular internal diameter diastolic (LVIDd), left ventricular internal diameter systolic (LVIDs), internal ventricular septum diastolic (IVSd), left ventricular posterior wall thickness diastolic (LVPWd) and LV ejection fraction (LVEF) were analysed by echocardiography. In parallel, we retrospectively analysed 28 cardiac autoptic specimens of patients who either died of cancer before chemotherapy or with a diagnosis of cancer at autopsy. Presence or absence of myocardial fibrosis at microscopic observation was used f...