Northside Hospital Heart Institute and Northside Hospital Cancer Institute have launched a joint initiative, the Cardio-Oncology Program, to improve cancer care and lower a patient’s risk of possible cardiac (heart) complications during cancer treatment.
“With advances in cancer care through early detection, improved therapeutics and supportive care, cancer patients are living longer – 65% of cancer patients are now living more than five years from their cancer diagnosis and 45% more than 10 years,” says Dr. Cheryl Jones, medical oncologist with Georgia Cancer Specialists, affiliated with Northside Hospital Cancer Institute. “Despite these improved outcomes, the cancer therapies often place patients at increased risk for cardiovascular complications of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, coronary disease, arrhythmia, and heart failure.”
Northside offers cardio-oncology services at all five Northside hospitals and multiple additional outpatient locations across Georgia. Services include:
- Optimization of risk factors before cancer treatment.
- Care for cancer patients with heart disease.
- Advanced echocardiography and cardiovascular imaging.
- Blood testing to look at the health of your heart muscle.
- Monitoring for heart complications during cancer therapies.
- Assessment of long-term heart risk in cancer survivors.
- Managing heart-related side effects of chemotherapy treatments.
“The early intervention of a cardio-oncologist to reduce the acute cardiac impact of cancer therapies permits cancer patients to receive maximum benefit from their prescribed treatments and also reduces the potential future development of late cardiac complications,” says Dr. Jones.
