Radiation-Induced Vascular Disease—A State-of-the-Art Review
Eric H. Yang, Konstantinos Marmagkiolis, Dinu Valentin Balanescu, Abdul Hakeem, Teodora Donisan, William Finch, Renu Virmani, Joerg Herrman, Mehmet Çilingiroğlu, Cindy L. Grines, Konstantinos Toutouzas, Cezar Iliescu
Abstract
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.