\u201cDr. Gupta and I are proud of the program we have built,\u201d Dr. Sundlof says. \u201cI hear from patients frequently that they find it reassuring that their cancer doctor and heart doctor are collaborating. As clinicians it has become more important to break down the silos we tend to work in and realize that by working together, we can improve outcomes for our patients.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A common condition the cardio-oncology program diagnoses and treats is cardiotoxicity, which can weaken the heart muscle, raise blood pressure, or cause the heart to beat out of sync, a condition known as arrhythmia. Heart specialists in the cardio-oncology program assess a patient\u2019s heart disease risk and work with their oncologist to develop a personalized treatment plan. They aim to minimize heart-related problems that can happen because of some cancer treatments in certain people.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPart of our objective is to increase the level of understanding about the potential for cardiotoxicity due to certain cancer medications and treatments,\u201d Dr. Gupta says. \u201cMost patients likely have no idea there could be any connection between the heart and oncology drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cancer and heart disease share many of the same risk factors, like smoking, obesity, poor nutrition and diabetes. The cardio-oncology program can serve as a preventive measure to help both cancer patients and cancer survivors.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis program provides a tremendous benefit to the community. We have such great expertise right here in the Lehigh Valley,\u201d Dr. Sundlof says. \u201cPeople don\u2019t have to travel to New York or Philadelphia for leading-edge care. Cancer patients are going through a lot and traveling long distances for treatment adds to their burden. It\u2019s great we can offer world-class care right here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In addition to recognizing LVHN\u2019s cardio-oncology program, the certification also provides a quality metrics framework based on industry standards and best practices to support the development, growth and impact of the cardio-oncology program.<\/p>\n
Since it began, the Lehigh Valley Health Network’s cardio-oncology program has served approximately 700 patients and has become a major initiative, according to Dr. Sundlof, who also serves as co-director of the Women\u2019s Heart Program.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been a rewarding journey for both me and Dr. Gupta,\u201d Dr. Sundlof says. \u201cOur expertise has reached as far away as Thailand where we helped cardiology and oncology colleagues start the first cardio-oncology programs. They will soon be expanding to a fifth hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cDr. Gupta and I are proud of the program we have built,\u201d Dr. Sundlof says. \u201cI hear from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126440,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":["post-126439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}