Scientists were surprised by the effect of cancer on heart function

Scientists from the Israel Institute of Technology discovered that in the absence of antitumor therapy, cancer development may improve heart function and reduce the degree of cardiac fibrosis - the scarring process that makes heart muscle more rigid. The work is published in the journal JACC: CardioOncology.

Professor Aronheim and his graduate students Lama Awwad and Laris Ahlaug conducted an extensive review of the bilateral interactions between heart failure and cancer. According to the scientist, the cardiotoxicity of anticancer drugs is well known to medical professionals: many chemotherapy regimens damage the heart, limiting treatment options. But the fact that the tumor disease itself can trigger protective or compensatory mechanisms in the myocardium came as a complete surprise.

"We aim to uncover additional connections between the heart and cancer and better understand the mechanisms of this interaction," noted Aronheim. "This understanding will allow us to create new therapeutic methods that will help patients in both groups."

Cardiovascular diseases and cancer share common risk factors - from smoking and obesity to diabetes and a sedentary lifestyle. Both conditions are accompanied by chronic inflammation, changes in immune response, and remodeling of the extracellular matrix affecting tissue elasticity. A few years ago, Aronheim's team showed that cardiac pathology can accelerate tumor growth and metastasis formation.

The new observation that cancer development can temporarily improve heart contractility and reduce fibrosis opens the way to creating fundamentally new treatment methods. Today, there are no drugs that could effectively reverse scarring or significantly improve heart muscle function.

Scientists hope that further study of the signaling pathways involved in this unexpected protective effect will allow the development of medications capable of simultaneously fighting heart failure and improving prognosis in oncological diseases.