BeyondRx: Can Chemotherapy Affect Your Heart?

In this episode of BeyondRx, Dr. Adamson explains how cancer treatment can affect the heart, a complication known as cardiotoxicity. She outlines which therapies carry cardiovascular risk, including anthracyclines such as doxorubicin, epirubicin, and daunorubicin, along with HER2-targeted therapy, VEGF-targeted therapy, and immune checkpoint inhibitors. She notes that risk depends on factors such as cumulative dose, treatment duration, and a patient’s existing cardiovascular conditions.

Dr. Adamson walks through the symptoms patients should watch for, such as shortness of breath, swelling, fatigue, and irregular heartbeat. She then explains how care teams monitor heart function with echocardiograms, ECGs, and cardiac biomarkers. She emphasizes that patients should never stop treatment on their own, and he describes how oncology and cardiology teams work together to balance effective cancer care with protecting the heart.