Scientists at the Technion–Israel Institute of Technology have made a surprising discovery: in some cases, cancer itself—without any treatment—may actually improve heart function and reduce scarring in the heart.
This goes against what many experts believed and could change how we understand the connection between heart disease and cancer.
The study was led by Professor Ami Aronheim, dean of the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, along with doctoral students Lama Awwad and Laris Achlaug. Their research was published in the journal JACC: CardioOncology, which focuses on the links between cancer and heart health.
For many years, doctors have known that cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation can damage the heart. But this study looks at the relationship in a new way. It asks: what happens to the heart when there is cancer in the body, but no treatment is given yet?
The team found something unexpected. In certain situations, having cancer appeared to improve the way the heart works. It also seemed to reduce fibrosis, which is the scarring that makes the heart stiff and less able to pump blood.
This finding is very important because there are currently no drugs that can fully reverse fibrosis or directly improve how well the heart muscle contracts.
Both heart disease and cancer share many common risk factors. These include smoking, being overweight, not getting enough exercise, high blood pressure, diabetes, and genetic factors. Both conditions are also connected through chronic inflammation, changes in the immune system, and stiffness in body tissues.
A few years ago, Professor Aronheim’s group found that heart problems can actually make cancer spread faster. Now, their new study shows that the reverse may also be true—cancer may sometimes affect the heart in a positive way.
Professor Aronheim explains that his team’s goal is to find more connections between cancer and heart disease and to understand how these diseases influence each other. This deeper understanding could lead to new treatments that benefit people with either condition—or both.
This recent study opens the door to developing brand-new medicines. If scientists can figure out exactly how cancer improves heart function in certain cases, they may be able to create drugs that mimic this effect without needing the cancer itself. That could be a major breakthrough in treating heart disease.
In conclusion, this discovery challenges what we thought we knew about the relationship between cancer and heart health. It shows that cancer might not always harm the body in expected ways and that studying these effects carefully could lead to major advances in medicine.
While this doesn’t mean cancer is good, it does suggest that the body’s response to cancer may hold hidden keys to healing other diseases.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about how eating eggs can help reduce heart disease risk, and herbal supplements could harm your heart rhythm.
For more health information, please see recent studies about how drinking milk affects risks of heart disease and cancer, and results showing strawberries could help prevent Alzheimer’s disease.
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