Tehran Times - First cardio-oncology research center in Asia will soon start operating in Shahid Rajaee teaching hospital in Tehran, said a member of hospital�s academic board.

Cardio-oncology is the intersection of heart conditions in patients who have been treated for cancer. Cardiologists can assess patients for potential risk of developing heart conditions if patients take certain types of cancer drugs, or following radiation treatment to the chest.

A specialized cardio-oncology clinic also opened in this hospital two years ago for the first time in Iran, Dr. Azin Alizadeh-Asl told IRNA on Friday.

All the preparations for opening the center are finished and the license for opening the center will soon be issued, said Dr. Alizadehasl.

According to Alizadeh-Asl, cardio-oncology research center will help the prevention of heart diseases in cancer patients and also develop a better understanding of how to treat such conditions.

Research about the side effects of cancer drugs, chemotherapy and radiotherapy on cardiovascular system and how to treat such conditions, especially heart failure, are the primary focus of studies in this center.

�Cancer patients who are more at risk of heart diseases need to be registered. By now, we have registered 300 patients with the help of eight medical centers and more patients are to be registered soon,� she added.

�We are also planning to start short courses and then fellowships on Cardio-Oncology in Shahid Rajaee Hospital.�

�With training residents in this field, we are trying to have the specialized staff so that cardio-oncology research and medical centers can be established in different provinces all over the country,� she further explained.

In January, the Iranian Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Society announced that there is an estimated 900,000 cancer cases in Iran and gastric, breast, lung and brain cancers are the most commons in the country.

According to the report, annually, around 30 trillion rials (about $700 million) is spent in the health sector on cancer treatment and half of these expenses go to provision of cancer medicines.