Something that is poisonous or harmful to the heart muscle, causing damage or dysfunction.
Greek 'kardia' (heart) + 'toxikon' (poison), a medical term describing substances that damage cardiac tissue. This term became crucial in oncology when chemotherapy drugs were discovered to harm the heart alongside cancer cells.
Cancer drugs like doxorubicin can be life-saving against tumors but cardiotoxic to the heart—this paradox drove cardiologists and oncologists to collaborate, creating 'cardio-oncology' as its own specialty to protect hearts while fighting cancer.
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