- With Mayo Clinic medical oncologist
Timothy J. Moynihan, M.D.
read biographyclose windowBiography of
Timothy J. Moynihan, M.D.
Timothy Moynihan, M.D.
"As a practicing medical oncologist, I meet with patients and families every day to help manage their course through this disease called cancer. This experience provides unique insight into the needs of cancer patients, their families and loved ones and brings into sharp focus the need for reliable information to be readily available in terms that can be easily understood." — Dr. Timothy Moynihan
Dr. Timothy Moynihan believes that providing consumers with accurate, timely information on the broad, complex topic of cancer is the biggest challenge facing medical websites. As the guiding force behind our cancer content, he makes sure Mayo Clinic meets the test.
Dr. Moynihan, born in Las Vegas, N.M., and raised in Denver, is a consultant in medical oncology at Mayo Clinic and an associate professor at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minn. He's board certified in internal medicine, medical oncology, and hospice and palliative care medicine.
He did his medical oncology training at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, and then went on to the University of Minnesota and St. Paul Regions Medical Center for seven years before moving to Mayo Clinic in 1999. Dr. Moynihan is medical director of the Mayo Clinic hospice.
Dr. Moynihan serves as the education chair for the Department of Oncology and the fellowship program director. Four times he has been selected as Teacher of the Year in medical oncology and elected to the Teacher of the Year Hall of Fame.
Past honors include distinguished clinical teacher at the University of Minnesota Medical School, best internist at the Medical College of Wisconsin and recipient of the Upjohn Achievement Award for Excellence in Medicine. Dr. Moynihan serves on several national committees for the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
"The Internet provides a ready source of information on a wide range of topics of interest to those affected by cancer," Dr. Moynihan says. "The difficulty is trying to decide which sites provide reputable information and which information is relevant to each individual patient. The long history and tradition of excellence associated with Mayo Clinic assures you that information provided will be reliable, up-to-date and comprehensive."
Risk factors (1)
- Cellphones and cancer: What's the risk?
Tests and diagnosis (3)
- Small cell, large cell cancer: What this means
- Tumor vs. cyst: What's the difference?
- Atypical cells: Are they cancer?
Causes (1)
- Night shift and cancer: Any connection?
Treatments and drugs (6)
- What is compassionate use of experimental drugs?
- Magic mouthwash: Effective for chemotherapy mouth sores?
- After a flood, are food and medicine safe to use?
- see all in Treatments and drugs
Alternative medicine (2)
- Curcumin: Can it slow cancer growth?
- High-dose vitamin C: Can it kill cancer cells?
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Question
Chemotherapy side effects: A cause of heart disease?
Can chemotherapy side effects increase the risk of heart disease?
Answer
from Timothy J. Moynihan, M.D.
Chemotherapy side effects may include an increased risk of heart disease, especially weakening of the heart muscle (cardiomyopathy). Certain types of chemotherapy also increase the risk of heart attack, especially during infusion of the medication. Fortunately, heart disease associated with chemotherapy is relatively rare — and not all chemotherapy drugs carry the potential side effect of heart damage.
It's important to note that some newer anti-cancer treatments — such as trastuzumab (Herceptin) for breast cancer — may cause heart damage as well, although the effect is often temporary and reversible.
If your doctor is considering using a chemotherapy drug that may affect your heart, you may undergo heart function testing before starting treatment. During treatment, you may need periodic heart monitoring as well. If you have a pre-existing heart condition, such as cardiomyopathy, your doctor may suggest a different type of chemotherapy.
Generally, the risk of heart disease associated with certain chemotherapy drugs increases with the total lifetime amount of the drug you receive. To minimize the risk of heart damage, your doctor will carefully monitor the amount of each type of chemotherapy drug you receive. If you experience significant breathing problems such as shortness of breath with minimal exertion or chest pain during chemotherapy, report it immediately to your health care team.
In addition, some cancers require radiation therapy. If the area of your body receiving radiation includes your heart, you have an increased risk of cardiomyopathy, coronary artery disease and heart attack. The combination of radiation and chemotherapy can further increase your risk of heart damage. However, your doctor can take steps to reduce these risks as much as possible.
Next questionCurcumin: Can it slow cancer growth?
- Floyd J, et al. Cardiotoxicity of anthracycline-like chemotherapy agents. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 26, 2010.
- Floyd J, et al. Cardiotoxicity of nonanthracycline cancer chemotherapy agents. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 26, 2010.
- Perez EA, et al. Cardiotoxicity of trastuzumab. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 26, 2010.
- Geiger S, et al. Anticancer therapy induced cardiotoxicity: Review of the literature. Anti-Cancer Drugs. 2010;21:578.
- Yusuf SW, et al. The diagnosis and management of cardiovascular disease in cancer patients. Current Problems in Cardiology. 2008;33:163.
- Sengupta PP, et al. Trastuzumab-induced cardiotoxicity: Heart failure at the crossroads. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 2008;83:197.
Find Mayo Clinic on