Cardiotoxicity: precision medicine with imprecise definitions

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and cancer are the two leading disease burdens worldwide. Epidemiological and demographic transitions, improved survival and better screening at health system level are among the factors leading to increasing overlap between these separate conditions, both in terms of aetiology and outcome. The number of cancer survivors will rise to 19？million in the USA by 20241 and four million in the UK by 2040.2 New immune, biological and small-molecule therapies as well as existing chemotherapies alike have increased the proportion of cancer survivors for whom morbidity and mortality from CVD (‘cardiotoxicity’) supersedes that arising from cancer. A new medical specialty has evolved, involving multidisciplinary teams from both oncology and cardiology. Cardio-oncology recognises that today’s cancer patient is tomorrow’s cardiac patient and aims to prevent, diagnose and treat cardiotoxicity