Preventing Heart Effects of Anthracyclines

What you can do to protect your heart depends on how healthy your heart is going into treatment, your age and which cancer therapies you will receive. Talk about steps you can take with your health care team. These may include:

• Baseline heart assessment, including physical examination, blood tests, an electrocardiogram and an echocardiogram.
• Management of heart risk factors and any associated health problems.
• Ask if you should receive a medicine called dexrazoxane
• Discussion and planning of follow-up monitoring.