12/17/2025
🚨 When Life-Saving Cancer Drugs Put the Heart at Risk 🚨
Targeted cancer therapies like tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have transformed cancer care. Though, for many patients, they may come at a serious cost to cardiovascular health. High blood pressure, heart failure, and arrhythmias can limit how long patients can safely stay on these otherwise powerful cancer-treatments.
🫀 New research from the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, published in Science Translational Medicine, led by Drs. Amit Manhas, PhD, Yu Liu (刘宇), and, senior author, Dr. Nazish Sayed, MD PhD, uncovers why this happens and points to a promising path forward.
"The study focused on sunitinib, a widely used TKI that targets the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR). VEGFR signaling is critical for blood vessel growth, which tumors rely on to survive. Blocking this pathway slows cancer progression, but it also affects normal blood vessel function. The researchers found that sunitinib disrupted a critical endothelial process known as mechanotransduction: the ability of blood vessels to sense and respond to the physical forces generated by flowing blood."
This work reveals a clear biological explanation for why this cancer drug can harm the heart and why these effects may persist even after treatment ends. Importantly, the study also points to a promising new strategy: protecting vascular health to reduce cardiovascular side effects during cancer therapy.
👉 Read the full story to learn more on how to reshape safer cancer care, written by Dr. Amanda Chase: https://med.stanford.edu/cvi//mission/news_center/articles_announcements/2025/how-cancer-drugs-disrupt-blood-vessel-sensing.html
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