{"id":200646,"date":"2024-12-02T19:26:30","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T01:26:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2024\/12\/newfound-mechanism-may-explain-why-some-cancer-treatments-boost-risk-of-heart-disease"},"modified":"2024-12-02T19:26:30","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T01:26:30","slug":"newfound-mechanism-may-explain-why-some-cancer-treatments-boost-risk-of-heart-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2024\/12\/newfound-mechanism-may-explain-why-some-cancer-treatments-boost-risk-of-heart-disease","title":{"rendered":"Newfound mechanism may explain why some cancer treatments boost risk of heart disease"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/newfound-mechanism-may-explain-why-some-cancer-treatments-boost-risk-of-heart-disease2.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A cancer therapy that prompts the body\u2019s immune defenses against viruses and bacteria to attack tumors can make patients more vulnerable to heart attack and stroke. A possible explanation for this side effect is that the treatment interferes with immune regulation in the heart\u2019s largest blood vessels, a new study suggests.<\/p>\n<p>Led by researchers at NYU Langone Health and its Perlmutter Cancer Center, the new work focused on a potent class of cancer-fighting drugs called <a href=\"https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/tags\/immune+checkpoint+inhibitors\/\" rel=\"tag\" class=\"\">immune checkpoint inhibitors<\/a>. These medications work by blocking molecules embedded on the surface of cells\u2014immune checkpoints\u2014which normally serve as \u201cbrake pedals\u201d that prevent excess immune activity, or inflammation. Some tumors are known to hijack these checkpoints to weaken the body\u2019s defenses, so by blocking the checkpoints, the treatments enable the <a href=\"https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/tags\/immune+system\/\" rel=\"tag\" class=\"\">immune system<\/a> to kill <a href=\"https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/tags\/tumor+cells\/\" rel=\"tag\" class=\"\">tumor cells<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>However, this treatment type may also trigger damaging levels of inflammation in the heart, brain, stomach, and other organs, the researchers say. For example, past studies have shown that about 10% of those with atherosclerosis, the buildup of hardened fatty deposits (plaques) within artery walls, have a heart attack or stroke following <a href=\"https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/tags\/cancer+treatment\/\" rel=\"tag\" class=\"\">cancer treatment<\/a>. However, the specific mechanisms behind this issue had until now remained unclear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A cancer therapy that prompts the body\u2019s immune defenses against viruses and bacteria to attack tumors can make patients more vulnerable to heart attack and stroke. A possible explanation for this side effect is that the treatment interferes with immune regulation in the heart\u2019s largest blood vessels, a new study suggests. Led by researchers at [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":662,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1495,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-200646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech-medical","category-health","category-neuroscience"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/662"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200646\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}