Project 463290

The chemotherapy drug doxorubicin is a highly effective drug to treat a number of human cancers. However, a major side effect of this drug its toxicity to the heart muscle. In fact, the cells of the heart in particular are very susceptible to doxorubicin therapy and in many cases the cells become injured or irreversibly damaged in cancer patients. This in turn impairs the heart's ability to pump blood. Over time the damaged heart cells die, ultimately resulting in heart failure. There are no cures for heart failure which is a major socioeconomic stain on the Canadian health care system. The reasons why heart cells die in cancer patients treated with doxorubicin is not well understood. Therefore, a central focus of this grant proposal is to understand the underlying mechanisms that cause the cells of the heart die in cancer patients treated with doxorubicin. It is hoped that this research which focuses on the genetic and cellular mechanisms that control cell death will lead to the development of new treatments that will curtail the cardiac damage in cancer patients resulting in improved quality of life for these individuals.