Cancer Immunotherapy can cause heart muscle damage
Doctors at Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences review data on immune reactions in heart muscle inflammation. Immunotherapy is a powerful weapon in the fight against cancer, but inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis) is one of its most serious side effects. This has been highlighted in a review article on the immunological causes and processes of myocarditis, which has just been published by an international research team. Autoimmune reactions are in fact among the most common causes of myocarditis. And such reactions can be triggered by cancer immunotherapies due to their specific modes of action. The increasing use of these treatments could therefore lead to an increase in cases of myocarditis.