Cardio-oncology and Oncohematology: Examination Algorithms, Prophylactic and Treatment of Cardiotoxicity, Trends in Rehabilitation

Abstract

Successful chemotherapy in the treatment of hematological diseases is determined not only by the efficacy of antitumor drugs, but by the timely correction of adverse events, among which especially important are cardiac complications associated with both already existing cardiovascular diseases and cardiotoxicity of cytostatic drugs. Of particular importance is also a frequent lack of systemic cardiological examination of oncohematological patients. The urgency of this issue was the reason for creating cardio-oncological clinics focused on the closest co-operation of cardiologists with drug chemotherapy experts. Hematological patients are a particular group among chemotherapy recipients. Potential curability of an oncohematological disease and achieving durable MRD-negative remission raise the importance of irreversible or long-term cardiac complications directly affecting the quality of life and life expectancy. Besides, in some cases long-term or life-long administration of certain cardiotoxic antitumor drugs requires a particular cardiological follow-up. A broad variety of cardiotoxic effects of antitumor drugs and peculiarities of their clinical manifestations call for the exact algorithms of cardiological examination to be observed for the timely detection and treatment of cardiovascular complications. The now available st udies and interdisciplinary work of cardiologists and oncologists (oncohematologists) can yield such algorithms for examination and the approaches to prophylactic and treatment of cardiotoxicity as well as to rehabilitation of patients.