Cardio-Oncology

If you have cancer, comprehensive treatment can lead to a cure or help you live longer with your disease. But cancer therapy can also increase your risk for heart problems. Cardio-oncology care can prevent heart complications or help you manage issues that appear.

The specialists at our Cardio-Oncology Clinic provide advanced resources for patients undergoing cancer treatment who are at a higher risk of cardiac problems. We’ll work closely with you and your oncologist to create a customized care plan that protects your heart before, during and after your cancer therapy journey.

Who Benefits from Cardio-Oncology

Cardiotoxicity—heart damage or dysfunction caused by cancer treatment—can make cancer care less effective. To avoid this problem, it’s important to identify which cancer patients face a higher risk of heart complications. These individuals will need close monitoring for years.

You may benefit from our services if you:

• Are a cancer survivor (this group has a higher risk of coronary artery disease)
• Have an unusual cancer with cardiac implications
• Have cardiac disease with symptoms that overlap with your cancer
• Have cardiac risk factors like diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, previous heart problems or smoking
• Receive cardio-toxic chemotherapy or another toxic treatment
• Receive treatments that carry rare, but fatal, cardiac effects

Specialized Care

Your needs are unique. Your treatment should be, too. We will create a comprehensive treatment plan for you. This may include diagnostic testing such as echocardiography (an imaging test to view the heart's structures).

We will help you schedule any tests you need and communicate your results back to your oncologist and answer your questions about the process.

We offer these specialized programs as part of our commitment to providing comprehensive care to cancer patients and survivors:

• Amyloidosis Clinic: We offer the only clinic in our region for people who develop amyloidosis, a build-up of an abnormal protein called amyloid. It can cause heart muscle and other organs to stiffen. It can lead to heart rhythm disorders, heart failure, and other complications when not treated.
• Care for cancer patients and survivors with advanced heart failure
• Cancer-oncology survivorship group at The Christ Hospital Cancer Center