BNP as a potential biomarker for cardiac damage of breast cancer after radiotherapy: a meta-analysis

Background: To analyze whether BNP could be a potential biomarker for cardiac damage of breast cancer after radiotherapy. Methods: PubMed, Web of Science, ProQuest and Medline were searched using the key words "breast cancer" ("breast tumor", "breast neoplasm", or "breast carcinoma"), "brain natriuretic peptide" (or BNP) and "radiotherapy" (or "radiation therapy"). Four articles were selected and analyzed using the STATA 12.0 software package. The standard mean difference (SMD) and its standard error for BNP were calculated to assess the relationship between BNP and radiotherapy for breast cancer patients. Results: In total, 172 patients with breast cancer were identified. The pooled SMD was -0.233 (95% CI -1.113, -0.057). The pooled estimated SMD for all studies showed obvious significant difference (z=3.99, P=.000). There was no publication bias. Conclusions: This meta-analysis suggested that BNP could be a biomarker of cardiac damage at high heart absorbed doses according to radiotherapy, especially for left breast cancer patients.