This book has its roots in the rapidly developing subspecialty of oncologic cardiology. Some understanding of the scope and development of this field is useful in evaluating how well the book mirrors the subspecialty and serves the needs of potential readers.
Patients with cancer have all of the cardiac problems seen in the general population and, in addition develop cardiac manifestations either due to the tumor itself or resulting from therapy. Newer diagnostic procedures have significantly advanced our ability to recognize these manifestations, but it is still frequently difficult to dissect out the oncologic effects.
Initially, patients with cancer and cardiac problems were handled as a relatively small fraction of general clinical cardiology, and in many locations this still represents the standard pattern of care. Certain trends have contributed to the development of this field as a subspecialty and can be expected to continue. These factors have included first, the