Cardiac antigen identified as mechanism for heart complication with immunotherapy-related myocarditis dicardiology.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dicardiology.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
(HEALTH NEWS) Myocarditis is a complication that can occur in cancer patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Although the adverse event is rare — affecting less than 1% of patients given the immunotherapy — the mortality rate is nearly 50%.
Now, researchers from Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center have identified the mechanism for the deadly heart inflammation.
The researchers discovered that T-cells recognizing the cardiac antigen α-myosin are the mechanism for this .
Cardiac antigen identified as mechanism for heart complication with immunotherapy-related myocarditis miragenews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from miragenews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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A drug typically prescribed for rheumatoid arthritis may also be effective in treating a rare but potentially deadly heart complication some cancer patients experience after taking immunotherapies, according to a study published in
Cancer Discovery and co-led by investigators at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC).
The researchers demonstrated that the drug abatacept reduced the severity of myocarditis in a genetic mouse model study - responses that have also been observed in three human patients who were given the same drug after corticosteroid treatments failed to reduce heart muscle inflammation. The mouse model revealed the mechanisms for how the drug works.