Subclinical cardiac damage in cancer patients before chemotherapy.

Abstract

Cancer and cardiovascular diseases, including heart failure (HF), are the main causes of death in Western countries. Several anticancer drugs and radiotherapy have adverse effects on the cardiovascular system, promoting left ventricular dysfunction and ultimately HF. Nonetheless, the relationship between cancer and HF is likely not unidirectional. Indeed, cancer and HF share common risk factors, and both have a bidirectional relationship with systemic inflammation, metabolic disturbances, and neurohormonal and immune activation. Few studies have assessed the impact of untreated cancer on the heart. The presence of an active cancer has been associated with elevated cardiac biomarkers, an initial impairment of left ventricular structure and function, autonomic dysfunction, and reduced exercise tolerance. In turn, these conditions might increase the risk of cardiac damage from chemotherapy and radiotherapy. HF drugs such as beta-blockers or inhibitors of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system might exert a protective effect on the heart even before the start of cancer therapies. In this review, we recapitulate the evidence of cardiac involvement in cancer patients naïve from chemotherapy and radiotherapy and no history of cardiac disease. We also focus on the perspectives for an early diagnosis and treatment to prevent the progression to cardiac dysfunction and clinical HF, and the potential benefits of cardioactive drugs on cancer progression.

• Authors: Iacopo Fabiani, Giorgia Panichella, Alberto Aimo, Chrysanthos Grigoratos, Giuseppe Vergaro, Nicola Riccardo Pugliese, Stefano Taddei, Daniela Maria Cardinale, Claudio Passino, Michele Emdin, Alberto Giannoni
• Journal: Heart failure reviews (Heart Fail Rev) Vol. 27 Issue 4 Pg. 1091-1104 (07 2022) ISSN: 1573-7322 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 34318387 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: © 2021. The Author(s).

Topics

• Heart
• Heart Diseases (chemically induced)
• Heart Failure
• Humans
• Neoplasms (complications, drug therapy)
• Renin-Angiotensin System
• Ventricular Dysfunction, Left (diagnosis, etiology)