Cardio Health During Cancer Treatment By Kevin Self Reviewed by Elizabeth Klodas, MD, FACC  and    Advocating for yourself and working collaboratively with all of your doctors — cardiologist, oncologist, and surgeon — is the best way to ensure cardiac health long after effective cancer treatment.

Heart problems and cancer are two of the most prevalent ailments known today. Few people can say that they don’t know someone touched by one or both diseases. But did you know that one disease can sometimes cause the other?

In fact, the link between some cancer treatments and the development of a heart condition is quite apparent. A recent study conducted at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reviews the latest research on various heart complications — such as heart failure, chest pain (myocardial ischemia), and high blood pressure (hypertension) — and how frequently they arise following cancer treatments. The findings might surprise you. Depending on the type of treatment, type of drugs used and a number of other factors, the rate of incidence can be over 50 percent.

“Even with the onset of targeted cancer therapy, some of the new drugs carry side effects that manifest in the heart,” says Edward T.H. Yeh, MD, chairman of the Department of Cardiology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and McNair Scholar of the Texas Heart Institute. “This can happen in anywhere from 5 to 30 percent of targeted therapy patients, depending on the drug.”

The goal of the study is to create awareness among cardiologists and oncologists of the potentially serious and long-term effects cancer treatments can have on the heart and encourage them to take these variables into account when prescribing treatments.

But what do these findings mean for cancer patients? Dr. Yeh offers some guidance:

• Be your own advocate. Learn as much as you can and don’t be afraid to ask questions.
• Ask your oncologist if he or she is aware of the heart complications that can arise following cancer treatment. If not, ask them to consult a cardiologist.
• Pay close attention to symptoms during treatment, as this could lead to an early diagnosis of a heart complication.

“The best thing a cancer patient can do to help ensure a healthy heart is facilitate a partnership between themselves, their oncologist, and their cardiologist,” says Dr. Yeh.

The more you know about the potential cardiac risks involved with certain cancer treatments and therapies, the better able you will be to advocate for yourself and work with your medical team to develop an appropriate and healthy treatment plan.

The study findings are published in the June 16, 2009 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 

Source: 

Yeh ETH et al. Cardiovascular Complications of Cancer Therapy: Incidence, Pathogenesis, Diagnosis, and Management. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2009

Edward T.H. Yeh, MD, chairman of the Department of Cardiology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and McNair Scholar of the Texas Heart Institute