February 25, 2022

Cardio-Oncology For Heart Patients in Louisville, KY

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♪ [music] ♪

Cardio-oncology is a recently new area of medicine
that's evolved in the past decade that has to deal

with cardiovascular concerns for patients that
undergo various types of treatment for cancer.

Different types of treatment affects
the heart in different ways.

So if we think about chemotherapy or immunotherapy,
those treatment arms are addressing cells or receptors

on cell surfaces or within the cells that the drugs
affect to kill the cancer cells.

Some of those receptors are also
residing in the heart muscle.

So when it targets the cancer cells,
some of them can also bleach over or run into the

receptors in the heart and cause it to get weak.

Ideally, anybody with heart concerns should see us
before they start treatment so that we can identify

their risk factors, address those risk factors,
and prep the heart so that as we go through treatment,

we help minimize the risk of having complications.

If we can catch things early,
we know that we may be able to intervene

with certain medicines,
and we can see improvement in the heart function.

This has been such an eye-opener, and now we've
identified it, we can't step back.

You know, you fight one disease process, cancer,
and you want to have everything you can to fight it

and to come out at the end of it without something
else, and I am so thankful to be part of the program.

♪ [music] ♪

Baptist Health Louisville: Cardio-Oncology For Heart Patients

The Baptist Health Louisville cardio-oncology program improves quality-of-life for heart patients who have had cancer treatments like chemotherapy.


Cardio-Oncology For Heart Patients in Louisville, KY HealthTalks Transcript

Mini Das, MD, Cardiology:
Cardio-oncology is a recently new area of medicine that’s evolved in the past decade that has to deal with cardiovascular concerns for patients who undergo various types of treatment for cancer. Different types of treatment affect the heart in different ways. If we think about chemotherapy or immunotherapy, those treatment arms are addressing cells or receptors on cell surfaces or within the cells that the drugs affect to kill cancer cells. Some of those receptors are also residing in the heart muscle. When it targets the cancer cells, some of them can also bleach over or run into the receptors in the heart and cause it to get weak.

Ideally, anybody with heart concerns should see us before they start treatment so that we can identify their risk factors, address those risk factors, and prep the heart. As we go through treatment, we have minimized the risk of having complications. If we can catch things early, we know that we may be able to intervene with certain medicines and we can see improvement in the heart function. This has been such an eye opener, and now that we’ve identified it, we can’t step back. You fight one disease process — cancer — and you want to have everything you can to fight it, and to come out at the end of it without something else. I am so thankful to be part of the program.


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