SoutheastHEALTH offers cardio-oncology services to benefit cancer and heart patients

When the diagnosis is cancer, medications and radiation therapy can save your life. However, these treatments can also lead to cardiovascular complications, including heart failure, hypertension or make your risk of heart disease greater. SoutheastHEALTH's new Cardio-Oncology Program is designed to prevent or reduce the risks of cardiac events in patients taking medications or treatments for cancer.

SoutheastHEALTH Heart, Lung & Vascular board-certified Cardiologist Bryan Beck, MD, says the Cardio-Oncology Program enhances the overall quality of care. He says cardiac complications can include:

• Hypertension
• Changes in the normal heart rhythm
• Changes in how efficiently the heart pumps
• Injury to heart valves or blood vessels
• Heart attack

Andrew Moore, MD, board-certified Hematologist/Oncologist and medical director of Hematology and Oncology at the Southeast Cancer Center, explains that "we are not adding another doctor to a patient's care team. Dr. Beck and his colleagues are very much a part of our cancer team now." He said that working together, the team can help determine if a patient with cancer may be at risk for developing a heart condition before, during or after cancer treatment. "Our goal is to decrease the chance of cancer therapy interruptions and complications."

Cardio-Oncology Program cardiologists, left to right: Bryan Beck, MD, Steven Carr, MD, Gabriel Soto, MD, David Law, MD and Chizor Iwuchukwu, MD.Submitted by SoutheastHEALTH

Cardio-Oncology Program cardiologists, left to right: Bryan Beck, MD, Steven Carr, MD, Gabriel Soto, MD, David Law, MD and Chizor Iwuchukwu, MD.Submitted by SoutheastHEALTH

Common Risk Factors

"We realize a lot of patients with cancer also have heart issues and ongoing vascular disease," Dr. Beck adds. "And there are a lot of common risk facts for cancer and heart disease, such as smoking and obesity."

Cardio-Oncology Program cancer specialists, left to right: Andrew Dickey, MD, Hematology/Oncology, Erin Ezzell, DO, Hematology/Oncology, Joseph Miller, MD, Radiation Oncology and Andrew Moore, MD, Hematology/Oncology.Submitted by SoutheastHEALTH

Cardio-Oncology Program cancer specialists, left to right: Andrew Dickey, MD, Hematology/Oncology, Erin Ezzell, DO, Hematology/Oncology, Joseph Miller, MD, Radiation Oncology and Andrew Moore, MD, Hematology/Oncology.Submitted by SoutheastHEALTH

As part of the Cardio- Oncology Program, cardiologists are available to evaluate a patient's cardiac status and work directly with oncology physicians to help protect heart function during all aspects of cancer treatment.

Dr. Moore noted that over the past several years, cancer therapies have improved dramatically. Working collaboratively to utilize those therapies while safeguarding the heart "gives our patients the best possible outcome with the fewest cardiac complications."

Often, once cancer treatment is finished, the heart function may show improvement, Dr. Beck says.

"Our Cardio-Oncology team will monitor patients and their test results even after treatment. At that point, it may be possible to reduce cardio-protective medications or stop them completely."

About the Southeast Cancer Center

At the Southeast Cancer Center, the approach to care combines expert providers and leading-edge treatments with a focus on whole-person healing aimed at improving the quality of life for our patients. Every year, the Southeast Cancer Center and our outreach clinics in Dexter and Perryville, Missouri, treat more than 5,000 patients from throughout the region because we believe you shouldn't have to travel far to receive exceptional cancer care.