Cardio-Oncology Clinic Established at The Mount Sinai Hospital
New York, NY (PRWEB) April 15, 2014 -- Cardiologists and cancer experts at The Mount Sinai Hospital have joined forces to establish its first Cardio-Oncology Clinic at The Tisch Cancer Institute at The Mount Sinai Hospital.
The Cardio-Oncology Clinic, located at the Leon and Norma Hess Center for Science and Medicine, is one of the first specialized clinics dedicated to personalized patient risk assessment, prevention, detection, and treatment of potential cardiovascular effects from cancer therapy. It is a collaboration between Mount Sinai Heart and the Division of Hematology/Oncology at The Mount Sinai Hospital.
Cardio-Oncology is an emerging medical field. That’s why the Cardio-Oncology Clinic has been established at Mount Sinai to bring together the collective expertise of cardiovascular and oncology specialists who will identify any potential cardiotoxicity issues from chemotherapeutic agents. Moreover, this new collaboration will allow for further in-depth research into the field of cardio-oncology.
“The ultimate objective of the Cardio-Oncology program is to balance maximal cancer survival with minimizing cardiac damage, and help ensure better long-term health outcomes overall for our cancer patients,” says Randall Holcombe, MD, Director of Clinical Cancer Affairs and Director of the Ruttenberg Treatment Center at The Tisch Cancer Institute at The Mount Sinai Hospital.
“We are excited about this new multidisciplinary collaboration between our oncologists and cardiologists at Mount Sinai to continue our mission to advance medicine and provide the best comprehensive care for our patients,” says Jagat Narula, MD, PhD, Director of Cardiovascular Imaging at Mount Sinai Heart. Dr. Narula and Dr. Holcombe initiated the Cardio-Oncology program.
“Our Cardio-Oncology Clinic allows each cancer patient to be carefully assessed for any potential cardiovascular health risks due to their chemotherapy regimen in combination with prevention guidance, close surveillance, and treatment options, particularly for those who are at high risk,” says Gagan Sahni, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) at The Mount Sinai Hospital who supervises and coordinates the Cardio-Oncology Clinic.
Dr. Sahni adds: “Our goal is to avoid having patients come to us after they have developed heart effects in the years following their cancer treatment. We aim to identify those at highest risk for cardiac side effects and intervene early. This timely intervention includes surveillance with latest echocardiographic and imaging modalities, suggesting modification of their cancer treatment and starting additional cardioprotective drugs to limit the potential cardiovascular damage from their chemotherapy.”
“The establishment of our Cardio-Oncology Clinic at Mount Sinai is critical and very timely given this emerging subspecialty of the cardio-oncology field, especially with the advent of newer cancer therapies, and the development of more sophisticated cardiovascular imaging methods to detect possible cardiotoxicity from traditional and new chemotherapeutic agents,” says Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, Director of Mount Sinai Heart and Physician-in-Chief of The Mount Sinai Hospital.
“Currently, there are no formal guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of cardiotoxicity from chemotherapy,” says Dr. Narula. “The field is growing internationally with an increase in the published research studying chemotherapy associated cardiac adverse events.”
The Cardio-Oncology Clinic offers each cancer patient a personalized assessment of their risk of developing cardiotoxicity, along with access to the latest medical therapy, cardiac imaging techniques ranging from echocardiography to cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In addition, the Clinic offers consultative services for any cancer patient’s associated cardiac disease on an inpatient or outpatient basis.
“Our Cardio-Oncology program has cardiologists and oncologists working together to help further protect the hearts of our patients undergoing cancer treatments and help patients make more informed decisions regarding their cancer treatment options. Eventually this collaboration will lay the foundation for larger clinical trials to better understand cardiotoxicity and thereby establish clearer guidelines for risk stratification, surveillance, and treatment,” says Dr. Sahni.
To reach the Cardio-Oncology Clinic for consultation or patient referral, call: 212- 824-8606 (for Wednesday appointments) or 212-241-4977 (for Monday, Friday appointments).
About the Mount Sinai Health System
The Mount Sinai Health System is an integrated health system committed to providing distinguished care, conducting transformative research, and advancing biomedical education. Structured around seven member hospital campuses and a single medical school, the Health System has an extensive ambulatory network and a range of inpatient and outpatient services—from community-based facilities to tertiary and quaternary care.
The System includes approximately 6,600 primary and specialty care physicians, 12-minority-owned free-standing ambulatory surgery centers, over 45 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, and Long Island, as well as 31 affiliated community health centers. Physicians are affiliated with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which is ranked among the top 20 medical schools both in National Institutes of Health funding and by U.S. News & World Report. For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org/.
Lauren Woods, The Mount Sinai Hospital, http://www.mountsinai.org/, +1 (212) 241-2836, [email protected]
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