Cancer Therapy-Related Cardiac Dysfunction

Cancer therapy-related cardiac dysfunction (CTRCD) has become a major cause of morbidity and mortality among cancer survivors. Although cardiac rehabilitation is recommended for cardiovascular disease prevention and management, high-quality randomized controlled evidence regarding its efficacy in cardio-oncology populations remains limited. This multicenter, prospective, parallel-group, superiority randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate whether a structured cardio-oncology rehabilitation (CORE) program combined with usual care can improve cardiovascular outcomes in patients with CTRCD or cancer survivors at high cardiovascular risk, compared with usual care alone. A total of 800 participants will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive either structured cardio-oncology rehabilitation plus usual care or usual care alone. The intervention includes individualized exercise training, nutritional management, psychosocial support, cardiovascular risk-factor optimization, and patient education. Participants will be followed for 12 months. The primary endpoint is time to first major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE) within 12 months. Secondary endpoints include changes in cardiorespiratory fitness, cardiac function, biomarkers, quality of life, physical function, psychological status, safety outcomes, and health economic outcomes.

The goal of this observational study is to evaluate cardiac side effects in women with early-stage breast cancer who receive systemic chemotherapy and/or anti-HER2 therapy as part of their standard cancer care. The main questions it aims to answer are: Can changes in Global Longitudinal Strain (GLS) on echocardiography detect early cardiac dysfunction before a drop in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) becomes apparent? Are changes in circulating microRNA levels in the blood associated with early cardiac dysfunction during cancer treatment? Does cardiac dysfunction occur more frequently with anthracycline-containing chemotherapy compared to anthracycline-free regimens? Participants already receiving standard chemotherapy and/or anti-HER2 therapy as part of their routine cancer care will undergo echocardiography (LVEF and GLS), provide blood samples for microRNA analysis, and complete quality of life questionnaires at four time points: before treatment (baseline), and at 3, 6, and 12 months after starting treatment.

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a cardiac rehabilitation protocol, incorporating aerobic and resistance exercise, in reducing the incidence of cardiotoxicity in breast cancer patients receiving treatment with anthracyclines and/or trastuzumab through a randomized, active control group, open-label clinical trial.

Breast cancer is the most commonly cancer in women in the overall global population. According to the World Cancer Research Fund International, there were more than 2.25 million new cases of breast cancer in women in 2020. Although the modern treatment strategies, based on the complex care, which consists of surgery, radiotherapy, hormone therapy, and targeted chemotherapy directed at specific cancer molecules have substantially reduced the risk of death due to breast cancer, their wide adoption results in the wider prevalence of cardiotoxicity, defined as either symptomatic heart failure, or asymptomatic contractile dysfunction. The occurrence of cardiotoxicity induced by anti-cancer therapies is estimated at 5-15%, and its development is the primary cause of therapy termination, which significantly reduces the probability of the efficacy of treatment. Several attempts have been made to determine the efficacious preventive strategy, which could diminish the risk of cancer-therapy induced cardiotoxicity. The results of the prior studies indicated a trend towards lower risk of troponin elevation, or left ventricular contractile dysfunction with the introduction of drugs interfering with the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone (RAA) axis, which constitute the primary treatment modality in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Sacubitril/valsartan, the novel therapeutic agent, has been demonstrated to significantly improve prognosis in patients with HFrEF. Prior retrospective, small, single-center studies have shown that treatment with sacubitril/valsartan may reduce the risk of cancer-therapy induced cardiotoxicity, or reverse contractile dysfunction caused by anti-cancer therapy. However, no large randomized data confirmed these findings. Therefore, the Sacubitril/Valsartan in PriMAry preventIoN of the cardiotoxicity of systematic breaST canceR trEAtMent) study, has been designed to verify, whether the preventive use of sacubitril/valsartan administered in the doses recommended in patients with HFrEF in breast cancer patients undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy with anthracyclines or anthracyclines and HER-2 monoclonal antibodies, will reduce the incidence of cardiotoxicity defined as impaired left ventricular systolic function on transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). In the trial, a total of 480 patients with histologically confirmed breast cancer, who are eligible for chemotherapy with anthracyclines or anthracyclines and HER-2 monoclonal antibodies, will undergo 1:1 randomization to either preventive treatment with sacubitril/valsartan or placebo. The patients will be followed for 24 months, and will have repetitive efficacy and safety examinations, including echocardiography, MRI (optionally), electrocardiography including 24-h Holter monitoring, blood tests, functional capacity tests and quality of life assessment.

Determining the etiology of cardiomyopathy is of high clinical importance for optimal treatment strategy and prediction of prognosis. There is increased risk for cardiovascular disease and higher propensity for cardiovascular related mortality among Black and non-Hispanic White patients. Recently, advanced cardiac imaging has become a vital tool in diagnosis and risk stratification of cardiovascular disease. Very limited data is available on the prevalence and characteristics of different cardiovascular diseases in Hispanic and African American minority groups, therefore, studying different racial and ethnic minority groups in the Bronx population is an exceptionally valuable source to determine the prevalence of cardiomyopathies among minority groups along with study survival in this population. This study aims to determine the etiology of cardiovascular disease in a diverse patient population by utilizing various cardiovascular imaging modalities, with a focus on cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging and to develop risk stratification models by applying advanced cardiovascular imaging markers.

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women. Modern breast cancer treatments have led to increased survival, but at the same time, increased risk for cardiotoxicity and development of heart failure. In this study, the investigators want to evaluate whether nicotinamide riboside can prevent cancer-related cardiac dysfunction in metastatic breast cancer patients scheduled for anthracycline therapy. Further, the investigators will evaluate change in signs of skeletal muscle injury and functional capacity.