Scientists were surprised by unexpected impact of cancer on the heart

Sensational discovery: cancer can improve heart function — Israeli scientists debunk medical stereotypes

Researchers from the Israel Institute of Technology have made an astonishing discovery — the development of cancer (without anti-tumor therapy) can have a beneficial effect on cardiac activity and reduce fibrotic changes that make the heart muscle less elastic. The results of this unexpected study were published in the authoritative journal JACC: CardioOncology.

Professor Aronheim, along with graduate students Lama Awwad and Laris Ahlaug, carefully analyzed the relationships between heart failure and oncological diseases. The scientist emphasized that the medical community is well aware of the cardiotoxicity of anticancer drugs — many chemotherapeutic regimens damage the heart, significantly limiting therapeutic options. However, the fact that the oncological disease itself can trigger protective mechanisms in the myocardium has become a real revelation for the scientific world.

"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 for the creation of new therapeutic methods that will help patients in both groups."

Cardiovascular and oncological diseases share common risk factors — from tobacco smoking and excess body weight to diabetes and physical inactivity. Both pathological conditions are characterized by chronic inflammatory processes, modification of the immune response, and restructuring of the extracellular matrix, affecting the elasticity of tissue structures. Several years ago, a research group led by Aronheim demonstrated that cardiac pathologies can stimulate tumor growth and metastasis.

The latest observation, according to which the progression of cancer can temporarily increase the contractile function of the heart muscle and reduce the degree of fibrotic changes, opens up prospects for developing innovative therapeutic approaches. To date, medicine does not have drugs that can effectively reverse the scarring process or significantly improve myocardial functionality.

Researchers have high hopes that in-depth study of the signaling pathways involved in this unexpected protective mechanism will allow for the creation of drugs that simultaneously counteract heart failure and improve prognosis in oncological diseases.