Irish Medical Times Medical News for Healthcare Professionals
High circulating levels of cardiovascular hormones/peptides in cancer patients are linked to shorter survival, regardless of disease type and stage of progression, reveals research published online in the journal Heart.
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These biomarkers are apparent in the absence of any clinical signs of heart disease or infection, and before the start of anti-cancer treatment, some of which is known to damage heart tissue, say the researchers.
Researchers assessed levels of the cardiovascular hormones NT-proBNP, MR-proANP, MR-proADM, CT-pro-ET and copeptin; a chemical called high sensitive troponin (hsTnT), which regulates heart muscle contractions; and proteins indicative of inflammation, including interleukin 6 (IL6) and C reactive protein (CRP), in 555 people diagnosed with cancer for the first time.
Their progress was then tracked for an average of 25 months.
During the monitoring period, almost a third of the patients (34%; 186) died. Analysis of their blood samples showed that levels of all the hormones measured and hsTnT rose in tandem with disease severity, and in some cases were 100 times higher than would be expected.
Furthermore, levels of three of the hormones (NT-proBNP, MR-proANP, MR-proADM) and hsTNT were associated with levels of the inflammatory proteins IL6 and CRP.
The findings suggest that all these biomarkers were indicative of heart tissue damage that was not yet clinically evident, but that was linked to the progression of the cancer, suggest the researchers.
The research also backs preliminary research suggesting that heart failure drugs may be beneficial for cancer patients above and beyond helping to curb the potentially damaging side effects of cancer treatment, they add.
Heart, Published Online First: 28 September 2015, doi:10.1136/heartjnl-2015-307848.
