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Cancer and Caring for Your Heart

Patient Resources

Heart health and cancer treatment

This booklet talks about the heart and explains why having a healthy heart is important. It also covers the cancer treatments that can cause heart problems, and discusses how these are monitored and managed by your medical team.

There are also some helpful tips on how to look after your heart. Produced in partnership with the British Heart Foundation.

Consider Your Heart During Cancer Therapy

There’s a spectrum of heart disease that’s associated with cancer care, including high blood pressure, weakening of the heart muscle and congestive heart failure, according to Guilherme H. Oliveira, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Cardiology at M. D. Anderson. “The role of cardiac care in cancer treatment is becoming more important than ever,” Oliveira says.

For example, Oliveira explains that newer targeted therapies zero in on and destroy the molecules that are essential for the survival of cancer cells.

From the National Cancer Institute

NCI, established under the National Cancer Institute Act of 1937, is the Federal Government’s principal agency for cancer research and training

Cancer Treatment and Your Heart

Cardio-oncology is a new term to describe the efforts to prevent or treat patients with cancer who face heart problems caused by cancer treatments.

American Society of Clinical Oncology

Trusted, compassionate information for people with cancer and their families and caregivers, from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

What is cardio-oncology?

If you would like to have a copy of this animation for your own use, or a version in another language.

What is Cardio-Oncology?

Daniel Lenihan, M.D. joined the Department of Medicine on September 1, 2017 as a Professor in the Cardiovascular Division.Dr. Lenihan has been active in cardio-oncology and heart failure for nearly 20 years.

The Global Cardio-Oncology Summit will feature the latest research and clinical guidelines in the multidisciplinary field of cardio-oncology.

The Cardio-Oncology Program

Dr. Michael Acker, chief of the division of cardiovascular surgery, discusses cardio-oncology, an emerging field in cardiovascular medicine. This specialty was developed to respond to the growing need for clinicians with expertise in both cancer and cardiology.

Lymphomas, such as Hodgkin’s lymphoma, have been successfully treated with radiation and chemotherapy. However, the radiation used to treat lymphoma patients in the 70s, 80s and early 90s damaged the heart while treating the cancer, leading this group of patients to develop heart failure later in life.