Cancer patients could be dealing with double trouble. Some medications used to treat cancer can actually cause heart disease. But now doctors are working more closely together to make sure patients dont end up with more problems than they started with.
29-year-old Abby jones always tries to look on the bright side, but life hasn’t been so picture perfect lately.
At 29 I was like, ‘What do I do?’ Jones told Ivanhoe.
The new mom battled five different cancers in one year. As if that wasnt enough, she then developed heart problems because of her cancer medications.
You don’t think your heart is going to take effect, but those drugs are pretty toxic, she said
USF Moffitt cardio oncologist Michael Fradley says 30 percent of cancer patients end up with heart problems. Jones didn’t feel any symptoms, but patients can experience shortness of breath, chest pains and leg swelling.
It certainly has been increasingly recognized as a substantial problem, he told Ivanhoe.
We can’t just treat cancer and not worry about side effects, said Dr. Roohi Ismail-Kahn, Joness oncologist at USF Moffitt.
Fradley worked with Ismail-Kahn. Together they decided to suspend some of her cancer treatment medications while adding cardiac protective medicines. They say the cardio oncology collaboration is critical for monitoring and treating both diseases.
When we’re thinking about caring for these patients we have to think about them um as a complete individual and we can’t just think in our own little silos just the heart or just the, uh, the cancer, Fradley said.
Jones is now cancer-free and glad her doctors were able to look at the big picture, so now this is the only therapy she needs.
Doctors say some of the cancer therapies that can cause heart issues are herceptin, anthracyclenes and radiation. If the cancer treatment cant be changed, doctors can then manage the heart disease as it develops. In some cases, the heart effects might not become known for five to 10 years after cancer therapy.
Contributors to this news report include: Emily Maza Gleason, Field Producer; Kim Groves, Supporting Producer and Jamie Koczan, Editor.
