Removing mitochondrial iron to protect the heart during doxorubicin treatment
Official title: Mitochondrial iron export therapy for doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity
Funded at University of Massachusetts Lowell · NIH-11252877 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A treatment approach to protect the hearts of people getting doxorubicin chemotherapy by removing excess iron from heart cell mitochondria.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Massachusetts Lowell NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Lowell, United States) |
| Project start | January 1, 2023 |
| Project end | December 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $619,515 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HL166541-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11252877 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
People receiving or scheduled to receive doxorubicin (anthracycline) chemotherapy, especially those at higher risk for treatment-related heart damage, would be the intended candidates for this approach.
✕Less likely to help
People who are not receiving anthracyclines, whose heart problems come from other causes, or who cannot receive the proposed adjunctive therapy would not be expected to benefit from this research.
What this research studies
If you are receiving doxorubicin chemotherapy, this project aims to stop heart damage by clearing excess iron that builds up inside heart cell mitochondria and causes harmful free radicals. The researchers will test small molecules and strategies in lab-grown cells and animal models to see whether moving iron out of mitochondria keeps heart muscle working without weakening cancer treatment. They note that the only approved cardioprotective drug, dexrazoxane, can remove mitochondrial iron but may reduce chemotherapy effectiveness and cause serious blood problems, so the team is searching for safer, heart-targeted options. If these approaches work in the lab and animals, the next steps would be testing them in patients as an added treatment during chemotherapy.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Could prevent or reduce heart damage from doxorubicin, allowing patients to complete effective cancer therapy with less risk of long-term heart problems.
How similar studies have gone: Dexrazoxane, the only approved drug for anthracycline cardiotoxicity, supports the iron-chelation idea but has safety and anticancer interaction concerns, and mitochondrial-targeted iron export strategies remain largely preclinical with encouraging early results.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Massachusetts Lowell
Lowell, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Kim, Jonghan — University of Massachusetts Lowell
- Study coordinator: Kim, Jonghan
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Dual targeting of heart cell receptors to prevent chemotherapy heart damage
Atrial patients receiving the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin may be protected from heart damage by targeting two heart cell receptors at once.
-
Genetic clues for doxorubicin heart risk using patient-derived heart cells
A research project tests how human heart cells grown from stem cells react to a common chemotherapy to see which genetic differences may raise the risk of heart damage.
-
Targeting STK3 to protect the heart during breast cancer treatment
A new approach tests whether blocking STK3 can protect the heart from chemotherapy damage without reducing its cancer-fighting effect in breast cancer patients.
-
High-throughput 3D human heart tissue to screen drug safety
A Johns Hopkins team is creating a high-throughput, 3D human heart tissue model to test drug safety on human heart cells.
-
Precision imaging of heart damage from cancer treatment using metabolic MRI biomarkers
Researchers will use advanced MRI to find early metabolic signs of heart injury in cancer patients treated with common drugs, so doctors can protect the heart earlier.
-
PET imaging to detect heart damage from chemotherapy
This research tests a new PET imaging tracer to detect early heart muscle damage in people who have received cancer chemotherapy.
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.