Highlighting Therapies that Shield the Heart from Anticancer Drugs

Cardio Protection Highlighting Therapies that Shield the Heart from Anticancer Drugs

2026-06-26 Source: Press release ESC 2 min Reading Time

Related Vendor

DÜPERTHAL Sicherheitstechnik GmbH & Co. KG

Researchers recently presented their findings on the protective effects of medical therapies recommended to treat heart failure. By pooling together study results, they have confirmed that guideline-recommended heart failure therapies – particularly a combination of RAAS inhibitors plus beta-blockers – protect heart function in patients being treated for cancer.

Researchers from the Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, recently presented their findings on the protective effects of medical therapies recommended to treat heart failure. (Source: Unsplash) — Researchers from the Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, recently presented their findings on the protective effects of medical therapies recommended to treat heart failure.
(Source: Unsplash)

Vienna/Austria – The cardioprotective effects of heart failure treatments in patients with cancer were demonstrated recently in a presentation at ESC Cardio-Oncology 2026, the annual conference of the European Society of Cardiology’s Council of Cardio-Oncology.

Patients receiving cancer treatment often face the added complication of side effects affecting the heart, which can lead to the need to discontinue anticancer therapy, reducing its effectiveness. Researchers from the Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, recently presented their findings on the protective effects of medical therapies recommended to treat heart failure.

Explaining why the analysis was carried out, presenter Ms Ymke Appels said: “ESC Guidelines for cardio-oncology recommend using certain treatments in patients with cancer who show signs of cardiac dysfunction, but the evidence for this comes largely from small studies, from expert opinion, and/or by adapting other guidelines such as those on heart failure. We conducted a meta-analysis of data from published studies to better understand how much different heart failure-recommended therapies prevent cardiac deterioration in patients treated with anticancer drugs.”

The analysis involved systematically searching biomedical literature databases for studies in patients treated with anticancer drugs that evaluated the effects of therapies recommended in the 2021 ESC Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic heart failure and the 2023 update. Randomized controlled trials and retrospective and prospective non-randomized studies were included. The drug classes assessed were renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) inhibitors (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers and angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitors), beta-blockers, mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors. Statins were also considered.

In total, 49 studies were identified, which involved 6,998 patients.

The analysis mainly investigated the effects of the different therapies on left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), a measure of the heart’s pumping ability. Across 23 studies assessing RAAS inhibition, LVEF improved by 2.88 % compared with placebo/standard of care (p<0.001). Over the 22 beta-blocker studies, there was a more modest LVEF improvement of 1.20 % compared with placebo/standard of care (p=0.05). Notably, across the eight studies involving a combination of RAAS inhibition and beta-blockers, LVEF improved by 2.98 % (p<0.001). Significant positive changes in global longitudinal strain, a marker of cardiac contraction, were also seen with RAAS inhibitors, beta-blockers and the combination of the two treatments.

Mineralocorticoid antagonists appeared to show encouraging protective effects, with an LVEF increase of 4.68 % compared with controls, but these data were derived from only two studies. The one study with sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibition showed an LVEF improvement of 3.20 %.

Statins were investigated in seven studies and showed an LVEF increase of 2.49 % compared with controls (p<0.001).

Doctor Wouter Meijers, Principal Investigator, concluded: “By pooling together study results, we have confirmed that guideline-recommended heart failure therapies – particularly a combination of RAAS inhibitors plus beta-blockers – protect heart function in patients being treated for cancer. The number of studies with other heart failure therapies was low, highlighting the need for further randomized trials, particularly of newer cardiovascular treatments, to fully understand their place in cardio-oncology.”

Subscribe to the newsletter now

Don't Miss out on Our Best Content

Business E-mail

Please enter a valid mailadress.

By clicking on „Subscribe to Newsletter“ I agree to the processing and use of my data according to the consent form (please expand for details) and accept the Terms of Use. For more information, please see our Privacy Policy. The consent declaration relates, among other things, to the sending of editorial newsletters by email and to data matching for marketing purposes with selected advertising partners (e.g., LinkedIn, Google, Meta)

Date: 08.12.2025

Naturally, we always handle your personal data responsibly. Any personal data we receive from you is processed in accordance with applicable data protection legislation. For detailed information please see our privacy policy.

Consent to the use of data for promotional purposes

I hereby consent to Vogel Communications Group GmbH & Co. KG, Max-Planck-Str. 7-9, 97082 Würzburg including any affiliated companies according to §§ 15 et seq. AktG (hereafter: Vogel Communications Group) using my e-mail address to send editorial newsletters. A list of all affiliated companies can be found here

Newsletter content may include all products and services of any companies mentioned above, including for example specialist journals and books, events and fairs as well as event-related products and services, print and digital media offers and services such as additional (editorial) newsletters, raffles, lead campaigns, market research both online and offline, specialist webportals and e-learning offers. In case my personal telephone number has also been collected, it may be used for offers of aforementioned products, for services of the companies mentioned above, and market research purposes.

Additionally, my consent also includes the processing of my email address and telephone number for data matching for marketing purposes with select advertising partners such as LinkedIn, Google, and Meta. For this, Vogel Communications Group may transmit said data in hashed form to the advertising partners who then use said data to determine whether I am also a member of the mentioned advertising partner portals. Vogel Communications Group uses this feature for the purposes of re-targeting (up-selling, cross-selling, and customer loyalty), generating so-called look-alike audiences for acquisition of new customers, and as basis for exclusion for on-going advertising campaigns. Further information can be found in section “data matching for marketing purposes”.

In case I access protected data on Internet portals of Vogel Communications Group including any affiliated companies according to §§ 15 et seq. AktG, I need to provide further data in order to register for the access to such content. In return for this free access to editorial content, my data may be used in accordance with this consent for the purposes stated here. This does not apply to data matching for marketing purposes.

Right of revocation

I understand that I can revoke my consent at will. My revocation does not change the lawfulness of data processing that was conducted based on my consent leading up to my revocation. One option to declare my revocation is to use the contact form found at https://contact.vogel.de. In case I no longer wish to receive certain newsletters, I have subscribed to, I can also click on the unsubscribe link included at the end of a newsletter. Further information regarding my right of revocation and the implementation of it as well as the consequences of my revocation can be found in the data protection declaration, section editorial newsletter.

(ID:50884026)