The following are summary points to remember about this report from the European Society of Cardiology Cardio-Oncology Council about the rationale, organization, and implementation of cardio-oncology services:

1. With an expected 23.6 million new cases of cancer worldwide each year by 2030 and a growing number surviving their cancer, often in the setting of advanced age or pre-existing risk factors for cardiovascular disease, there will be a great need for expertise in cardio-oncology.
2. The Cardio-Oncology Team is an alliance of dedicated professionals to provide multidisciplinary cardiovascular evaluation in all stages of the cancer process including prior to and during cancer therapy (anticancer cardiotoxic therapy, radiotherapy, and cancer surgery), and long-term surveillance.
3. Resources include cardiac imaging (echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance, cardiac computed tomography [CT], and positron emission tomography-CT), biomarkers, procedural capability (including cardiac catheterization, electrophysiology, cardiac surgery, and cardiac devices), cardiac rehabilitation services, heart failure center, valvular heart center, and facilities for research protocols.
4. Management of data includes internal audit process, databases, registries, and research programs. Examples of data these authors recommend include baseline data including demographics, cardiac risk factors, prior history of cardiovascular illness, complete information about previous cancer therapies, details of the actual cancer disease including histology, site, tumor node metastasis, staging, complete information about ongoing cancer drugs and planned radiotherapy, monitoring for cardiovascular disease including baseline clinical evaluation, cardiovascular imaging, biomarkers and estimates of risk of possible long-term cardiotoxicity, and periodic automatic recalls of patients for updating their data.
5. The authors discuss obstacles of implementing cardio-oncology services including lack of reimbursement/funding, consensus building between oncologists and cardiologists, lack of professional training on multidisciplinary team work, and the absence of service standards for cardio-oncology services.
6. The authors opined that even small community hospitals should have a cardio-oncology team as the need for such services continues to increase, and that the long-term follow-up is essential in this multidisciplinary setting to provide optimal care of these patients.

Keywords: Biomarkers, Cardiac Catheterization, Cardiac Rehabilitation, Cardiac Surgical Procedures, Cardiotoxicity, Diagnostic Imaging, Echocardiography, Electrophysiology, Heart Failure, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Medical Oncology, Neoplasms, Positron-Emission Tomography, Risk Factors, Secondary Prevention, Tomography, Tomography, X-Ray Computed

< Back to Listings