Protecting the heart during cancer treatment
Managing Cardiac Toxicities of Cancer Therapy
The team is exploring whether blocking heart inflammation and giving an oral hydrogen sulfide medicine can prevent heart damage from chemotherapy like doxorubicin.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Virginia Commonwealth University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Richmond, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11235145 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You would be part of research that looks at why some cancer treatments cause lasting heart damage, focusing on inflammatory protein complexes called inflammasomes that can worsen heart failure after chemotherapy or a heart attack. The researchers use laboratory and animal models to study how different heart cell types contribute to injury and to test whether blocking the NLRP3 inflammasome or giving an oral hydrogen sulfide donor (SG1002) reduces damage. Prior mouse studies from this group showed inflammasome inhibition reduced fibrosis and kept heart pumping function after doxorubicin, and SG1002 was found to be safe in a Phase I trial in humans. Over the grant period the team aims to link these lab findings to approaches that could be moved toward patient testing.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates would be people receiving or who recently received cardiotoxic chemotherapy (for example anthracyclines like doxorubicin) or cancer survivors at risk for treatment-related heart injury, especially those with prior heart ischemia.
Not a fit: Patients whose heart problems are due to non-chemotherapy causes or who already have advanced, irreversible heart failure are less likely to benefit from these specific approaches.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lower the risk of chemotherapy-related heart failure and help patients keep better heart function during and after cancer treatment.
How similar studies have performed: Preclinical mouse studies have shown benefit from NLRP3 inhibition in doxorubicin cardiotoxicity and SG1002 was safe in a Phase I human trial, but efficacy for preventing chemo-related heart damage in people has not yet been proven.
Where this research is happening
Richmond, United States
- Virginia Commonwealth University — Richmond, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Salloum, Fadi N — Virginia Commonwealth University
- Study coordinator: Salloum, Fadi N
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.