Existing cancer drug may protect the heart during certain chemotherapy treatments

The chemotherapy agent doxorubicin is used successfully to treat a range of cancers but can, as a side effect, damage the heart muscle. Researchers at the Heidelberg Faculty of Medicine at Heidelberg University have now identified the molecular signaling pathway through which doxorubicin causes cardiac injury. They also discovered that SAHA (suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid), a drug already approved for the treatment of certain cancers, attenuated harmful mechanisms in heart muscle cells in cell-based and animal studies and could therefore help protect the heart.

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