Lebensrettende Krebsmedikamente hinterlassen bei Überlebenden geschädigte Herzen

*Jason Gale for Bloomberg News*

Sydney oncologist Bogda Koczwara knew something was wrong when a police officer she’d treated for non-Hodgkin lymphoma returned to her clinic exhausted. His cancer tests were clear, but his health was deteriorating. Further tests revealed the problem: His heart was failing.

The chemotherapy had quietly damaged his heart muscle. The cancer never came back, but his heart never recovered.

Koczwara says the case, in the late 1990s, was an early warning of what is now an established pattern. Cancer therapies are producing unprecedented numbers of long-term survivors, many of whom are living long enough to experience the delayed effects on their heart. It’s an issue oncologists are grappling with worldwide, as treatment itself has become a cardiovascular risk factor — one that can compound the heart risks many patients already carry. “Cancer treatment comes at a cost,” Koczwara says. “There is a price to pay and that price is not trivial.”

People are surviving cancer in record numbers: The US has more than 18 million survivors, Australia more than 1.2 million, and the numbers are rising across Europe and Asia as treatments improve. Modern cancer therapies, far more potent than those available in the early 1990s, can be much more taxing on the heart than earlier treatments. They include immune checkpoint inhibitors, which mobilize the body’s immune system against tumors; drugs that cut off a tumor’s blood supply; and agents that target the genetic or molecular causes of a cancer.

[Read the full dispatch here.](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-23/new-potent-cancer-treatments-are-raising-heart-risks-for-survivors?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc2OTE1ODQxNSwiZXhwIjoxNzY5NzYzMjE1LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUOUIyNFVLR0NUR08wMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJEMzU0MUJFQjhBQUY0QkUwQkFBOUQzNkI3QjlCRjI4OCJ9.hr0JmrQVo92yLxRJOIXCMW0XBg0Xs4A718UBR-mebn8)

Yes, the so-called red devil
(doxorubicin) is very effective against many types of cancer, but it can damage heart cells.
I received modern treatment for my Hodgkin’s lymphoma, in which the dose of “classic” chemotherapy drugs could be reduced because a modern antibody drug was used.

We’ve been using chemo for decades & decades, and suddenly *now* we’re seeing heart problems? It’s not chemo that’s causing new heart problems these days. Just like it’s not „referee whistles“ causing football/soccer players to drop dead of heart issues on the field.