When Sydney woman Lee Hunt was diagnosed with an aggressive breast cancer back in 2005, she underwent gruelling rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
She also began taking what was a relatively new and promising targeted therapy drug at the time, Herceptin, which has been shown to boost the effects of chemotherapy.
Little did Hunt know that the very treatments that likely saved her life would lead to serious health problems down the track.
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Five years after finishing her cancer treatments, she began to notice strange symptoms.
“I just started fainting, and feeling very dizzy,” Hunt said.
Hunt was referred to a haematologist by her GP, on the assumption that it might be her low blood pressure causing the problem.
Luckily, the hematologist was aware of growing evidence of breast cancer survivors developing heart problems after taking Herceptin.
Hunt was sent to see a cardiologist, who diagnosed her with cardiotoxity, which refers to long-term damage to the heart caused by a medical treatment.
Hunt isn’t alone, with data showing heart disease related to cancer treatment is emerging as a significant threat to breast cancer survivors.
It is now estimated that up to 30 percent of breast cancer patients who undergo chemotherapy will go on to develop potentially life-threatening heart complications as a side effect of associated targeted therapies, immunotherapies or the chemotherapy itself.
Australian scientists at the Heart Research Institute hope to have a solution to the problem soon, in the form of a new drug that patients can take while undergoing chemotherapy to prevent heart damage.
Professor Julie McMullen leads a team of researchers at the institute who have earmarked two potential drugs which have been showing promise.
The drugs are being tested on revolutionary “mini-hearts” created in the lab.
The size of a grain of sand, these tiny hearts are made from donated human blood, and have their own heartbeat.
The tiny heart model was developed in the laboratory of University of Technology Associate Professor Carmine Gentile in an Australian first.
“We can collect blood from breast cancer patients, and then isolate their cells, and with those cells, we can make these little mini hearts,” McMullen said.
“Then, if we put some cancer drugs onto them, we can see if that impacts how they beat.
“We can also test whether one of our protective drugs protects them against any defects in how they beat.”
The ambitious cardio-oncology project also aims to understand why some patients are more susceptible to cardiotoxicity than others, helping pave the way for more personalised treatment in the future.
“We currently have limited knowledge on why cardiotoxicity occurs and which women will be most impacted,” McMullen said.
“This research has the opportunity to identify women at risk of cardiotoxicity before symptoms are present, so we can develop drugs to protect the heart during and after cancer treatment.”
If you would like to learn more about the research go to www.hri.org.au
