Early detection of cardiotoxicity using cardiovascular magnetic resonance and spectroscopy in patients with breast or other thoracic cancer receiving radiotherapy and chemotherapy (Dr Matthew Burrage)
Cancer survivors are at increased risk of dying from heart disease because chemotherapy and radiotherapy (which kill cancer cells) can also damage heart cells. Damage to the heart may not become apparent until years after treatment, at which point it is often too late to fix. Routine heart ultrasound scans (echocardiograms) are only able to detect late signs of heart damage. However it has been shown that early signs of heart injury (e.g. subtle changes in the heart’s function and metabolism and inflammation) can be detected using state-of-the-art magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) heart scanning techniques. Professor Vanessa Ferreira and her team will identify and develop new markers of early heart damage from cancer therapies that are able to predict those individuals at the greatest risk of more severe disease in future. 25 people requiring chemotherapy and radiotherapy will undergo MRI and MRS heart scans at various time points before and after cancer treatment. The scan results will also be related to results from blood tests to detect heart damage and advanced computational analyses of echocardiograms. This research could lead to development of routine tests to detect early signs of heart injury in people having cancer treatment. Appropriate therapies could then be administered to minimise damage and risk of heart disease later on. The results could also help scientists develop heart-safe cancer treatments for people.
Project details
| Grant amount | £120,458 |
|---|---|
| Grant type | Fellowships |
| Application type | Clinical Research Training Fellowship |
| Start Date | 02 December 2019 |
| Duration | 2 years |
| Reference | FS/19/65/34692 |
| Status | In Progress |
