Survivors of childhood and adolescent cancer have a real risk for cardiovascular disease later in life--more congestive heart failure, myocardial infarction, pericardial disease, and valvular abnormalities.

If interested in what to do about it, please visit the National Cancer Survivorship Initiative.  Launched in the UK in 2008, it formulates and carries out "strategies for providing adequate information for patients, families, and healthcare professionals. The implementation of this initiative would allow the safe discharge of patients determined as "low risk" for significant late sequelae as well as the informed follow-up of the 50% who are at risk but have not yet developed a problem. The remaining 30% are those with "chronic" illness who need specialist, often multidisciplinary, care."

From: "Surviviors of Childhood Cancer." Editorial BMJ 2009;339:b4691

See, particularly, Mulrooney DA, Yeazel MW, Kawashima T, Mertens AC, Mitby P, Stovall M, et al. Cardiac outcomes in a cohort of adult survivors of childhood and adolescent cancer: retrospective analysis report of the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study cohort. BMJ 2009;339:b4606.[Abstract/Free Full Text]