Multi-modality imaging to detect ischemic and
valvular heart disease in adult cancer patients
Abstract
Thanks to impressive advances in the field of oncology over the last
thirty years, there has been a dramatic rise in cancer survivors.
Nowadays, the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease exceeds
cancer-related mortality in this population. Coronary artery disease
(CAD) is a major problem due to shared risk factors, an ageing
population and in many cases induced and/or accelerated by antitumoral
treatment during and even decades after the end of cancer therapy. On
the other hand, the presence of CAD at the timepoint of cancer diagnosis
largely increases the risk of any cancer therapy related cardiovascular
toxicity (CTR-CVT). It is therefore of outermost importance to detect
CAD before, during, and after certain types of chemo-, molecular-, and
radiotherapy. Multimodality cardiovascular imaging plays a central role
in this fragile population where individual risk stratification and
multidisciplinary decision making is critical.