Cardio-Oncology Program

The Cardio-Oncology Program at Smilow Cancer Hospital is designed to help address the cardio-toxic side effects of chemotherapy treatment, as well as the confounding problem of co-existing cardiac disease and cancer. The program also provides pre-surgical and pre-treatment cardiac evaluation for patients with cancer.

The program began in response to emerging data, which indicates that newly developed drugs for cancer treatment are having unanticipated side effects. Drugs such as Herceptin, which is very effective in the treatment of breast cancer, can have cardio-toxic side effects that are just beginning to be understood and researched.