Abstract
Cardiovascular diseases and cancer are major causes of mortality in industrialized societies. They share common risk factors (e.g., genetics, lifestyle, age, infection, toxins, and pollution) and might also mutually promote the onset of the respective other disease. Cancer can affect cardiac function directly while antitumor therapies may have acute- and/or late-onset cardiotoxic effects. Recent studies suggest that heart failure might promote tumorigenesis and tumor progression. In both cancer and cardiovascular diseases, genetic predisposition is implicated in the disease onset and development. In this regard, genetic variants classically associated with cardiomyopathies increase the risk for toxic side effects on the cardiovascular system. Genetic variants associated with increased cancer risk are frequent in patients with peripartum cardiomyopathy complicated by cancer, pointing to a common genetic predisposition for both diseases. Common risk factors, cardiotoxic antitumor treatment, genetic variants (associated with cardiomyopathies and/or cancer), and increased cardiac stress lead us to propose the “multi-hit hypothesis” linking cancer and cardiovascular diseases. In the present review, we summarize the current knowledge on potential connecting factors between cancer and cardiovascular diseases with a major focus on the role of genetic predisposition and its implication for individual therapeutic strategies and risk assessment in the novel field of oncocardiology.
Highlights
Cardiovascular diseases and cancer represent the most frequent causes for mortality and morbidity in industrialized countries [1]
Genetic background plays an important role in disease predisposition for cancer and heart failure as well as for-toxic response to antitumor therapy
To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Summary
Cardiovascular diseases and cancer represent the most frequent causes for mortality and morbidity in industrialized countries [1]. Besides the long list of well-described common risk factors, recent studies showed that cardiovascular diseases and cancer directly influence each other In this regard, it is a well-known fact that many anticancer drugs, e.g., anthracyclines (such as epirubicin [8], daunorubicin [9], doxorubicin [10], or idarubicin [11]), antibodies (trastuzumab [12], bevacizumab [13]), or small molecules (such as dasatinib, sunitinib [14], sorafenib [15]) have cardiotoxic side effects and can cause cardiovascular diseases such as heart failure, arrhythmias, atherosclerosis, and thrombosis.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
