Life-Saving Cancer Drugs Are Leaving Survivors With Damaged Hearts
Doctors say the success of modern cancer care is creating a new challenge: managing treatment-related heart damage for survivors.
Illustration: Steph Hardy for Bloomberg
Sydney oncologist Bogda Koczwara knew something was wrong when a police officer she’d treated for non-Hodgkin lymphoma returned to her clinic exhausted. His cancer tests were clear, but his health was deteriorating. Further tests revealed the problem: His heart was failing.
The chemotherapy had quietly damaged his heart muscle. The cancer never came back, but his heart never recovered.