[Cardiovascular disease in adult cancer survivors: a new frontier for cardio-oncology].

Abstract

The enormous progress made in recent decades in the diagnosis and treatment of oncological and hematological diseases has resulted in a significant increase in patient survival and a substantial growth in the population of cancer survivors. These include both living patients with active disease and those who are free of cancer after treatment. There is strong evidence that cancer survivors are at an increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and that this risk may outweigh the prognostic impact that is imposed by the disease itself for certain types of cancer. The pathophysiological bases of the interaction between cardiovascular disease and cancer are complex and involve the sharing of both modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors, the effects on the cardiovascular system of certain treatments, as well as the pathogenic changes imposed by cancer, in which inflammation appears to play a key role. In this context, it is therefore essential to increase the attention of the cardiology community to this issue and to enhance cardiological follow-up programs for this high cardiovascular risk population.