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Gergely TG, Drobni ZD, Kallikourdis M, Zhu H, Meijers WC, Neilan TG, Rassaf T, Ferdinandy P, Varga ZV. Immune checkpoints in cardiac physiology and pathology: therapeutic targets for heart failure. Nat Rev Cardiol 2024; 21:443-462. [PMID: 38279046 DOI: 10.1038/s41569-023-00986-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 01/28/2024]
Abstract
Immune checkpoint molecules are physiological regulators of the adaptive immune response. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), such as monoclonal antibodies targeting programmed cell death protein 1 or cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated protein 4, have revolutionized cancer treatment and their clinical use is increasing. However, ICIs can cause various immune-related adverse events, including acute and chronic cardiotoxicity. Of these cardiovascular complications, ICI-induced acute fulminant myocarditis is the most studied, although emerging clinical and preclinical data are uncovering the importance of other ICI-related chronic cardiovascular complications, such as accelerated atherosclerosis and non-myocarditis-related heart failure. These complications could be more difficult to diagnose, given that they might only be present alongside other comorbidities. The occurrence of these complications suggests a potential role of immune checkpoint molecules in maintaining cardiovascular homeostasis, and disruption of physiological immune checkpoint signalling might thus lead to cardiac pathologies, including heart failure. Although inflammation is a long-known contributor to the development of heart failure, the therapeutic targeting of pro-inflammatory pathways has not been successful thus far. The increasingly recognized role of immune checkpoint molecules in the failing heart highlights their potential use as immunotherapeutic targets for heart failure. In this Review, we summarize the available data on ICI-induced cardiac dysfunction and heart failure, and discuss how immune checkpoint signalling is altered in the failing heart. Furthermore, we describe how pharmacological targeting of immune checkpoints could be used to treat heart failure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamás G Gergely
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
- HCEMM-SU Cardiometabolic Immunology Research Group, Budapest, Hungary
- MTA-SE Momentum Cardio-Oncology and Cardioimmunology Research Group, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Zsófia D Drobni
- Heart and Vascular Center, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
- Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Marinos Kallikourdis
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Milan, Italy
- Adaptive Immunity Lab, Humanitas Research Hospital IRCCS, Milan, Italy
| | - Han Zhu
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, USA
| | - Wouter C Meijers
- Erasmus MC, Cardiovascular Institute, Thorax Center, Department of Cardiology, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Tomas G Neilan
- Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Tienush Rassaf
- Department of Cardiology and Vascular Medicine, West German Heart and Vascular Center Essen, Medical Faculty, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Péter Ferdinandy
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
- Pharmahungary Group, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Zoltán V Varga
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
- HCEMM-SU Cardiometabolic Immunology Research Group, Budapest, Hungary.
- MTA-SE Momentum Cardio-Oncology and Cardioimmunology Research Group, Budapest, Hungary.
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Palaskas NL, Ali HJ, Koutroumpakis E, Ganatra S, Deswal A. Cardiovascular toxicity of immune therapies for cancer. BMJ 2024; 385:e075859. [PMID: 38749554 DOI: 10.1136/bmj-2023-075859] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/31/2024]
Abstract
In addition to conventional chemoradiation and targeted cancer therapy, the use of immune based therapies, specifically immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy (CAR-T), has increased exponentially across a wide spectrum of cancers. This has been paralleled by recognition of off-target immune related adverse events that can affect almost any organ system including the cardiovascular system. The use of ICIs has been associated with myocarditis, a less common but highly fatal adverse effect, pericarditis and pericardial effusions, vasculitis, thromboembolism, and potentially accelerated atherosclerosis. CAR-T resulting in a systemic cytokine release syndrome has been associated with myriad cardiovascular consequences including arrhythmias, myocardial infarction, and heart failure. This review summarizes the current state of knowledge regarding adverse cardiovascular effects associated with ICIs and CAR-T.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Hyeon-Ju Ali
- University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | | | - Sarju Ganatra
- Lahey Hospital and Medical Center, Burlington, MA 01805
| | - Anita Deswal
- University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA 01805
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Lessomo FYN, Mandizadza OO, Mukuka C, Wang ZQ. A comprehensive review on immune checkpoint inhibitors induced cardiotoxicity characteristics and associated factors. Eur J Med Res 2023; 28:495. [PMID: 37941006 PMCID: PMC10631013 DOI: 10.1186/s40001-023-01464-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2023] [Accepted: 10/20/2023] [Indexed: 11/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Newly approved cancer drugs called ICIs have shown remarkable success in improving patient survival rates, but they also have the potential for inflammatory and immune-related side effects, including those affecting the cardiovascular system. Research has been conducted to understand the development of these toxicities and identify risk factors. This review focuses on the characteristics of ICI-induced cardiotoxicity and discusses the reported risk factors. It is important for cardio-oncologists to understand the basic concepts of these drugs to better understand how cardiotoxicities occur. It might be hard to find reports, where all patients treated with ICIs had developed cardiac toxicity, because there could be other existing and variable factors that influence the likelihood or risk of developing cardiotoxicity during treatment. Various clinical parameters have been explored as potential risk factors, and further investigation is needed through large-scale studies.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Zhi-Quan Wang
- Cardiology Department, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
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