Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine (Mar 2021)

Radiation-Induced Vascular Disease—A State-of-the-Art Review

  • Eric H. Yang,
  • Konstantinos Marmagkiolis,
  • Dinu V. Balanescu,
  • Abdul Hakeem,
  • Teodora Donisan,
  • William Finch,
  • Renu Virmani,
  • Joerg Herrman,
  • Mehmet Cilingiroglu,
  • Mehmet Cilingiroglu,
  • Cindy L. Grines,
  • Konstantinos Toutouzas,
  • Cezar Iliescu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fcvm.2021.652761
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8

Abstract

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Since the 1990s, there has been a steady increase in the number of cancer survivors to an estimated 17 million in 2019 in the US alone. Radiation therapy today is applied to a variety of malignancies and over 50% of cancer patients. The effects of ionizing radiation on cardiac structure and function, so-called radiation-induced heart disease (RIHD), have been extensively studied. We review the available published data on the mechanisms and manifestations of RIHD, with a focus on vascular disease, as well as proposed strategies for its prevention, screening, diagnosis, and management.

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