A common type of diabetes drug known as sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors could help patients with cancer achieve greater long-term recovery, according to a novel study published by Bhalraam et al in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
Background
Many patients with cancer may develop heart failure as a result of the cancer itself and chemotherapy—leading to a reduced quality of life, multiple hospital admissions, or death.
“Cancer is currently one of the leading causes of premature death worldwide. Chemotherapy has played an instrumental role in improving patient outcomes, [b]ut up to 20% of [patients with] cancer who have had chemotherapy go on to develop heart problems, with up to 10% having heart failure,” stressed senior study author Vassilios Vassiliou, PhD, Professor at the University of East Anglia’s Norwich Medical School and a consultant cardiologist at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. “We know that a type of diabetes medication called SGLT2 inhibitors are recognized for their cardiovascular benefits. They can improve the symptoms of heart failure such as breathlessness and tiredness and also reduce [patients’] risk of becoming frail. We wanted to see whether SGLT2 inhibitors could help protect the heart during and after cancer treatment,” he continued.
Study Methods and Results
In the study, investigators used the data from 13 studies involving a total of 88,273 patients and survivors of cancer to examine whether SGLT2 inhibitors could protect against heart failure and heart failure–related hospitalization during and following cancer treatment.
The investigators found that SGLT2 inhibitors reduced the risk of heart failure and unplanned hospital visits related to heart failure by over 50%, particularly among patients with breast cancer receiving anthracycline chemotherapy. In addition, the number of new heart failure cases fell by more than 71%, indicating that SGLT2 inhibitors could help protect the heart during and following cancer treatment.
Conclusions
The investigators emphasized that further research is needed to confirm their findings.
“What we found is that SGLT2 inhibitors may help protect the heart during and after cancer treatment. These [drugs] significantly lowered the risk of heart failure and reduced hospital visits related to heart failure. The benefits are particularly promising [among patients with] breast cancer receiving a common type of chemotherapy called anthracycline chemotherapy,” Dr. Vassiliou underscored. “We hope that this type of [treatment] could in future be used as routine [in patients with] cancer,” he concluded.
Disclosure: For full disclosures of the study authors, visit academic.oup.com.
