(Press-News.org) New research suggests that a healthy microbiome before chemotherapy could help protect breast cancer patients against heart damage, or cardiotoxicity, as a result of cancer therapy.
Researchers found that specific bacteria in patients’ gut microbiome correlated with heart health biomarkers that suggest they are at greater risk of heart damage during chemotherapy.
“To allow cancer survivors healthier lives, we need to find new ways to protect them from the long-term side-effects of chemotherapy. This study is one of the first to ask whether the microbiome could play a role in how well patient’s hearts fare during chemotherapy,” explained Doctor Athos Antoniades, Head of Research and Development at Stremble Ventures LTD who is leading the multi-omics, including the gut microbiome DNA sequencing for this project.
“We saw a clear association between some specific genus of gut bacteria and cardiac biomarkers that suggest patients are at greater risk of heart damage during chemotherapy,” he added.
“While further research is needed, it does give us the tantalising hope that tailored probiotics could play a role in protecting patients against the harmful effects of cancer treatment in future.” Dr Antoniades said.
The study recruited 98 women over the age of 60 who were diagnosed with breast cancer from three clinical treatment centres across Europe: the Bank of Cyprus Oncology Centre, Cyprus; the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and the Greece and European Institute of Oncology, Italy.
The women received ultrasound heart scans, also known as echocardiograms, to test heart function, and had blood tests to test for biomarkers known to put women at a greater risk of heart damage during treatment. Genetic sequencing was used to profile all the bacteria in the gut of the patients before they received cancer treatment.
This study is part of a wider project called CARDIOCARE which will allow the research to expand to a larger study of 600 women to confirm the finding. This work offers the hope that tailored probiotics could be used to help protect women from the heart side-effects of chemotherapy in future.
The new research is being presented at European Cardio-Oncology 2025, a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology. The study is part of a wider EU-funded project called CARDIOCARE.
Researchers found that specific bacteria, called Bacteroides were prevalent in patients that also had heart health biomarkers, specifically LVGLS, NTproBNP and Troponin I, that indicate that patient’s are more susceptible to the heart damage during cancer treatment. The gut bacteria profile of these patients were similar to those found in patients with heart failure.
Bacteroidaceae are a family of very common gut bacteria that can be beneficial to health, but can also be harmful to health when their populations are dysregulated. They can cause infections in other areas of the body and can have a role in driving inflammation.
“We are already following up these 98 patients after chemotherapy, and are expanding the research project to all 600 patients already enrolled in the CARDIOCARE clinical trial.” Dr Antoniades concluded.
Heart damage, or cardiotoxicity, is a relatively common side-effect of many cancer treatments, including chemotherapy. As treatments for breast cancer improve and more patients recover, greater numbers of patients are living with the long-term side-effects of treatment.
-ENDS-
Notes to editor
Contact
ESC Press Office
Tel: +33 6 61 40 18 84
Email: press@escardio.org
Follow us on X @ESCardioNews
Funding: This research was supported through the EU Horizon 2020 project CARDIOCARE (Grant agreement ID: 945175)
Disclosures: this work is part of the CARDIOCARE project that was funded through the EU Horizon 2020 grant agreement ID: 945175. All authors report no conflict of interest.
About the European Society of Cardiology
The European Society of Cardiology brings together health care professionals from more than 150 countries, working to advance cardiovascular medicine and help people lead longer, healthier lives.
About the ESC Council of Oncology
The ESC Council of Oncology is a multidisciplinary constituent body which encourages the prevention, early diagnosis and management of cancer therapy-related cardiovascular diseases.
Information for journalists about registration for ESC Cardio-Oncology 2025:
ESC Cardio-Oncology 2025 will take place in Florence, Italy, from Friday, 20 June to Saturday, 21 June 2025. Explore the scientific programme.
• Free registration applies to accredited press.
• For accreditation you need a valid press card or appropriate letter of assignment with proof of three recent published articles. Read also the ESC media and embargo policy.
• The ESC Press Office will verify the documents and confirm by email that your press accreditation is valid.
END
Breast cancer patients’ microbiome may hold key to avoiding damaging heart side-effects of cancer therapies
2025-06-20
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Exercise-induced protein revives aging muscles and bones
2025-06-20
“Exercise is good for your health” is a well-known phrase, but few people can clearly explain how and why it benefits the human body.”
A joint research team, led by Dr. Yong Ryoul Yang of the Aging Convergence Research Group at the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB, President: Seok-Yoon Kwon) and Professor Nak-Sung Kim of Chonnam National University, has discovered a key protein, CLCF1 (cardiotrophin-like cytokine factor 1), that plays a central role in mediating the health benefits of physical activity.
The team found that CLCF1 is secreted by muscles during exercise, where it helps strengthen both muscles and bones, thereby ...
American College of Cardiology issues guidance on weight management drugs
2025-06-20
The American College of Cardiology has issued a Concise Clinical Guidance (CCG) document to aid clinicians in the use of medication for weight management in patients where treatment may provide cardiovascular benefit.
Obesity is a chronic, progressive disease that affects over 1 billion people worldwide. It can lead to devastating cardiovascular complications, including increased risk of heart failure, coronary artery disease and stroke. It is also associated with a significant reduction in life expectancy (9.1 years ...
Understanding the effect of bedding on thermal insulation during sleep
2025-06-20
The temperature of our sleeping environment has a major impact on the quality of our sleep, and good sleep is essential for our overall health and well-being. The bedding micro-environment is a key factor in maintaining thermally comfortable conditions for sleep. This includes the ambient temperature, humidity, the heat generated by the human body, and the thermal insulation provided by bedding like quilts, blankets, sheets, etc.
In particular, the total thermal insulation, or the ability of the bedding systems to resist heat flow, ...
Cosmic signal from the very early universe will help astronomers detect the first stars
2025-06-20
Understanding how the universe transitioned from darkness to light with the formation of the first stars and galaxies is a key turning point in the universe’s development, known as the Cosmic Dawn. However, even with the most powerful telescopes, we can’t directly observe these earliest stars, so determining their properties is one of the biggest challenges in astronomy.
Now, an international group of astronomers led by the University of Cambridge have shown that we will be able to learn about the masses ...
With AI, researchers find increasing immune evasion in H5N1
2025-06-20
Highlights:
H5N1 avian influenza virus has been found in mammals and birds, and 1 person in the U.S. has died from an infection.
New work suggests that the virus is evolving new ways to evade human immune defenses.
Using artificial intelligence and physics-based modeling, the researchers found weakening binding between defensive antibodies and viral proteins.
The work shows how AI may help researchers understand how the virus is evolving and look for new antibodies or other therapeutic interventions.
Los Angeles, Calif.—The H5N1 avian influenza virus has infected birds and mammals around ...
Study finds hidden effects of wildfires on water systems
2025-06-20
Highlights:
Wildfires disrupt microbial communities on land, but also alter aquatic systems when dissolved organic matter on burnt lands is carried into rivers, lakes or drinking water supplies.
In a new study, researchers found that the impact of wildfires on water systems could lead to nutrient imbalances, depleting oxygen levels or harmful algal blooms.
More complex treatment methods may be needed to ensure impacted water is safe for consumption or recreation.
Los Angeles, Calif.—Wildfires profoundly influence the unseen microbial world within our waters, directly impacting water quality and ecosystem health, according to a new study ...
Airborne fungal spores may help predict COVID-19 & flu surges
2025-06-20
Highlights:
A new study identified that increased levels of fungal spores in the air were strongly linked to surges in cases of influenza and COVID-19.
Monitoring airborne fungal spores could help predict surges of respiratory virus infections, providing an early warning system to public health systems.
Los Angeles, Calif.—Monitoring fungal spores in the outdoor air can predict surges in flu and COVID-19 infections, especially during the fall, according to a new study. The study is presented at ASM Microbe ...
Study shows tissues’ pliability depends on watery fluid between cells
2025-06-20
Water makes up around 60 percent of the human body. More than half of this water sloshes around inside the cells that make up organs and tissues. Much of the remaining water flows in the nooks and crannies between cells, much like seawater between grains of sand.
Now, MIT engineers have found that this “intercellular” fluid plays a major role in how tissues respond when squeezed, pressed, or physically deformed. Their findings could help scientists understand how cells, tissues, and organs ...
Interfacial polymer cross-linking strategy enables ultra-thin polymeric membranes for fast and selective ion transport
2025-06-20
Polymeric membranes are widely used in separation technologies due to their low cost and easily scalable fabrication. However, unlike inorganic nanoporous materials such as metal-organic frameworks and covalent organic frameworks, which feature periodic and ordered channels, polymeric membranes produced through traditional methods—such as phase separation—typically have irregular and disordered pore structures. This structural limitation makes it difficult to accurately separate ions or molecules ...
A leap in canine medicine: Method for reproducible mesenchymal stem cells found
2025-06-20
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which can be harvested from fat and bone marrow, have immune-modulating and anti-inflammatory effects that are beneficial for both human and veterinary medicine. However, MSCs have a limited proliferation capacity, with their quality varying depending on the donor’s age and where they were harvested from. For this reason, a method for producing MSCs using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) is attracting attention as a means to provide a stable supply of homogeneous MSCs. IPSCs have unlimited proliferation capacity and can be differentiated ...