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What Do You Need to Know About Heart Disease and Treatment for Cancer?

Read the transcript from our web chat about heart disease and cancer

By | 10/26/11 10:00 a.m.

Would you recommend that patients see a cardiologist prior to beginning any chemotherapy regimen?
Dr Plana: I would not say any chemo regimen – I would say that patients should see a cardiologist if they have risk factors for heart disease and receive a cardio-toxic chemotherapy regimen.  If you are going to receive a cardio-toxic regimen AND if you have risk factors for heart disease – that is the most important.

Dr. Plana talks about strain imaging, a test used to screen and monitor patients at high risk for cardiotoxicity.

You can read more questions and answers from Dr. Plana about cancer treatments and heart disease in our web Cardio-Oncology chat transcript.

Tags: cancer and heart, cardio-oncology, diagnostic test, heart and vascular institute, web chat

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  • Gary

    What are the chances/percentages of someone developing cancer that has had a radiation burn? The burn occured after six hours of operation six years ago.

    • CC Heart

      Dear Gary, I looked into your question and found the American College of Radiology has information on radiation safety and statistics under Quality and Safety Resources. However, you may want to talk to your primary care doctor or a radiologist who can provide you with information related to your specific type of radiation, dosage, etc. There is contact information on the ACR website and they may be able to provide you with more information if you have specifics of your case. http://www.acr.org . Hope this helps. betsyRN

  • Gary

    What are the chances/percentages of someone developing cancer that has had a radiation burn? The burn occured after six hours of operation six years ago.

    • CC Heart

      Dear Gary, I looked into your question and found the American College of Radiology has information on radiation safety and statistics under Quality and Safety Resources. However, you may want to talk to your primary care doctor or a radiologist who can provide you with information related to your specific type of radiation, dosage, etc. There is contact information on the ACR website and they may be able to provide you with more information if you have specifics of your case. http://www.acr.org . Hope this helps. betsyRN

  • Gary

    Is there a standard amount of time that if a patient can’t be fixed with angioplasti that the doctor switches over to open heart surgery?

    • CC Heart

      Dear Gary, there are times when bypass surgery is better and other times when angioplasty is better for the specific patient. That is why it is a good idea to go to centers where the cardiologists and surgeons work as a team. They recently changed the American College of Cardiology (ACC) guidelines to reflect the concept of collaboration – see http://healthhub.clevelandclinic.org/2012/01/new-cad-tips-tout-teamwork/. When in doubt – it is always good to get a second or third opinion to determine what is best for you. Hope this helps – let us know if we can help you or if you have additional questions: http://www.clevelandclinic.org/heartnurse . betsyRN

  • Gary

    Is there a standard amount of time that if a patient can’t be fixed with angioplasti that the doctor switches over to open heart surgery?

    • CC Heart

      Dear Gary, there are times when bypass surgery is better and other times when angioplasty is better for the specific patient. That is why it is a good idea to go to centers where the cardiologists and surgeons work as a team. They recently changed the American College of Cardiology (ACC) guidelines to reflect the concept of collaboration – see http://healthhub.clevelandclinic.org/2012/01/new-cad-tips-tout-teamwork/. When in doubt – it is always good to get a second or third opinion to determine what is best for you. Hope this helps – let us know if we can help you or if you have additional questions: http://www.clevelandclinic.org/heartnurse . betsyRN