Cancer and the Heart

Within the broad field of oncology is a relatively small but important area of cardiac oncology. The scope of cardiac oncology will increase as we con- tinue to develop expertise in the detection and management of cardiac prob- we intensify efforts to improve survival in patients who at an lems and as earlier time might have succumbed to advanced disease and a fragile cardio- vascular system. With our aging population and the developing complexity of treatment modalities, we now recognize that the cardiovascular system is a target of the adverse effects of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and cancer itself. The goal of this book is to present the scope of modern cardiac oncology as a growing discipline with sophisticated diagnostic testing and treatment modalities. The views of different specialists from different subspecialities are integrated to provide a multidisciplinary approach to the diagnosis, man- agement, and complications of cancer of the heart and related conditions. The rapidly growing interest in cardiac oncology has largely been advanced through the ready availability of two-dimensional echocardiography, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, angiocardiography, and other imaging tech- niques. This book is divided into four parts. The first appraises cardiac tumors in detail and describes the distribution, pathology, noninvasive and invasive methods for testing, diagnosis, and treatment. The surgical approach to cardiac tumors has been included. It is a major advance that was essentially nonexistent a decade or so ago. Novel surgical approaches have now been successful in many instances.