Go to JCI Insight
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • By specialty
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Gastroenterology
    • Immunology
    • Metabolism
    • Nephrology
    • Neuroscience
    • Oncology
    • Pulmonology
    • Vascular biology
    • All ...
  • Videos
    • ASCI Milestone Awards
    • Video Abstracts
    • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
  • Reviews
    • View all reviews ...
    • Clinical innovation and scientific progress in GLP-1 medicine (Nov 2025)
    • Pancreatic Cancer (Jul 2025)
    • Complement Biology and Therapeutics (May 2025)
    • Evolving insights into MASLD and MASH pathogenesis and treatment (Apr 2025)
    • Microbiome in Health and Disease (Feb 2025)
    • Substance Use Disorders (Oct 2024)
    • Clonal Hematopoiesis (Oct 2024)
    • View all review series ...
  • Viewpoint
  • Collections
    • In-Press Preview
    • Clinical Research and Public Health
    • Research Letters
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Editorials
    • Commentaries
    • Editor's notes
    • Reviews
    • Viewpoints
    • 100th anniversary
    • Top read articles

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Specialties
  • Reviews
  • Review series
  • ASCI Milestone Awards
  • Video Abstracts
  • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
  • In-Press Preview
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Research Letters
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Editorials
  • Commentaries
  • Editor's notes
  • Reviews
  • Viewpoints
  • 100th anniversary
  • Top read articles
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
Caught in the crossfire: cardiac complications of cancer therapy
Giulia Guerra, Marco Mergiotti, Hossein Ardehali, Emilio Hirsch, Alessandra Ghigo
Giulia Guerra, Marco Mergiotti, Hossein Ardehali, Emilio Hirsch, Alessandra Ghigo
View: Text | PDF
Review

Caught in the crossfire: cardiac complications of cancer therapy

  • Text
  • PDF
Abstract

Advances in cancer therapy have greatly extended patient survival but have also introduced a growing burden of cardiovascular toxicity that threatens long-term outcomes. These toxicities encompass a broad and often unpredictable range of clinical presentations, complicating oncologic care. Understanding how chemotherapy, targeted agents, and immune modulators impair cardiovascular function is essential for early detection, prevention, and management. Emerging insights into the cellular and molecular mechanisms, ranging from immune activation to transcriptional reprogramming and disrupted intercellular communication, underscore the complexity of cancer therapy–induced cardiac injury. Unraveling these mechanisms will be key to developing personalized, mechanism-based strategies that preserve cardiac function without compromising anticancer efficacy. As survivorship continues to improve, mitigating cardiotoxicity remains a critical priority for preserving both the quality and duration of life of patients.

Authors

Giulia Guerra, Marco Mergiotti, Hossein Ardehali, Emilio Hirsch, Alessandra Ghigo

×

Figure 2

Mechanisms, clinical manifestations, and preventive/therapeutic strategies for cardiovascular toxicity associated with targeted cancer therapies.

Options: View larger image (or click on image) Download as PowerPoint
Mechanisms, clinical manifestations, and preventive/therapeutic strategi...
Targeted cancer therapies can induce cardiovascular toxicities through distinct molecular mechanisms, leading to characteristic clinical presentations and requiring specific management strategies. (A) Small-molecule inhibitors cause cardiotoxicity via hERG channel inhibition, mitochondrial dysfunction with increased glycolysis, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and endothelial damage, manifesting as hypertension, arrhythmias, and contractile dysfunction. Management includes cardiovascular risk assessment, lifestyle modifications, and pharmacologic therapies, such as antihypertensive agents, statins, and SGLT2 inhibitors. (B) Monoclonal antibodies targeting receptors like VEGF and HER2 impair nitric oxide production, induce vascular remodeling, and alter cardiomyocyte survival signaling, causing hypertension, arterial thrombosis, and reductions in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Management strategies involve early detection using cardiac biomarkers (e.g., troponin I, myosin light chain-1) and pharmacologic therapy with statins, beta blockers, ACE inhibitors, and calcium channel blockers. (C) Immune modulators, including immune checkpoint inhibitors and adoptive cell therapies, increase autoimmunity in the heart through CD8+ T cell infiltration, cytokine release (e.g., IFN-γ, IL-6), and autoantibody production, leading to myocarditis, accelerated atherosclerosis, arrhythmias, and heart failure. Management focuses on corticosteroids, immunomodulatory agents (e.g., abatacept, tocilizumab), and supportive care with intravenous fluids, vasopressors, dexamethasone, and anticoagulation in cases of cytokine release syndrome (CRS). This integrated approach highlights the importance of understanding distinct pathogenic mechanisms to guide timely monitoring, prevention, and treatment of cardiovascular changes while maintaining oncologic efficacy.

Copyright © 2026 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)

Sign up for email alerts