Monitoring for cardiac dysfunction in cancer survivors

Certain cancer treatments, such as particular chemotherapy drugs (doxorubicin, trastuzumab) or radiation to the chest or breast tissue, can increase risk of patients developing cardiac dysfunction—either during treatment or later after treatment has completed. Patients at risk of developing heart complications from cancer treatment often need close communications between your oncologist, your primary care provider and possibly a cardiologist to determine the preferred surveillance and monitoring for issues both during and after treatment. The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) recently published guidelines for how best to avoid and diagnose cardiac issues related to cancer treatment in cancer survivors, which is described below.

Read more at American Society of Clinical Oncology.