Cardio-Oncology Research
Preventing Cardiotoxicity in Cancer Survivors
Many highly effective cancer treatments can damage the heart. BIDMC's Cardio-Oncology research program is working to understand the roots of cardiotoxicity with the goal of developing cardioprotective therapies for a rapidly growing population of cancer survivors.
Aarti H. Asnani, MD, is the Director of the CVI's Cardio-Oncology Program and a basic and translational researcher in this field. The main focus of Dr. Asnani's lab is to define the molecular mechanisms of chemotherapy-associated heart toxicity, with the goal of targeting these pathways therapeutically in patients.
Cardiac Toxicity of Cancer Chemotherapy
With the aging of the population, the number of patients diagnosed with cancer has grown significantly over the past few decades. In parallel, survival rates have improved due to increased efficacy and tolerability of cancer treatments. As a result, the acute and long-term toxicities of cancer therapies have become increasingly prominent as contributors to morbidity and mortality in cancer survivors.