Cancer drug could aid heart attack recovery, study finds

A cancer drug may help a heart attack patient recover and even reduce the likelihood they will have further attacks, an early-stage study suggests.

Scientists from the University of Cambridge found a low dose of aldesleukin injected under the skin of patients who had suffered an acute heart attack increased the activation of immune cells shown to protect the heart.

Specifically, the drug was shown to activate a rare white blood cell called innate type 2 lymphocyte (ILC2). Ordinarily it is administered to kidney cancer patients to shrink their tumours.

Previous research has shown that ILC2 cells may be able to reduce the harmful inflammation that promotes the accumulation of fatty arterial deposits.

The researchers examined mice that could not produce ILC2 and found their hearts were less able to recover after a heart attack. Mice that were able to produce the cells experienced reduced scarring and superior organ function after a heart attack, they found.

By targeting the inflammation caused by the body's immune response to a heart attack the researchers also hope to prevent the feedback loop that can increase a patient’s risk of having a second heart attack.

Dr Tian Zhao, British Heart Foundation (BHF) clinical lecturer in cardiovascular medicine at the University of Cambridge, said: “Right now, there is no way to stop the immune system, which gets activated after a heart attack, from mistakenly damaging the heart.

“If our clinical trial shows that aldesleukin works the same way in people as it does in mice, by harnessing the 'good cops' of our immune system, we may have found a way to help the heart heal after a heart attack.”

The study was funded by the BHF and is published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Professor Metin Avkiran, the charity’s associate medical director, said in a statement that someone is admitted to hospital after a heart attack every five minutes in the UK, though seven out of 10 will survive.

Prof Avkiran added: “However, many heart attack survivors will still be left with damaged hearts.

“This research reveals a new approach that has the potential to both help heal hearts damaged by a heart attack and reduce the risk of a further heart attack.

“If clinical trials results confirm these early research findings, drugs that activate ILC2 could revolutionise heart attack treatment.”

The researchers are now following patients who have been given aldesleukin after a heart attack in phase two clinical trials. They hope further positive results will lead to larger trials and, eventually, a new treatment for heart attacks.

Publication of the research comes just days after the NHS announced it would roll out a “game-changing” cholesterol treatment that bosses predict will prevent 55,000 heart attacks and 30,000 deaths over the next decade.

Inclisiran helps the liver remove harmful cholesterol from the blood and has been shown to reduce the risk of strokes and heart attacks in people who have already suffered one.