University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Archives - Page 2 of 2

2014

Scholar Grant

Dr. Gregory Aune

San Antonio, TX

There is an 80% survival rate from pediatric cancer. Unfortunately, individuals that survive cancer and enter adulthood have an alarming rate of severe medical conditions, with heart disease as a significant and emerging problem in this growing population. My laboratory has developed animal models to study how cancer therapies affect the heart and lead to cardiac disease later in life. A majority of prior research has focused on how chemotherapy damages the adult heart. My laboratory is interested in how chemotherapy damages the pediatric heart as well as uncovering the mechanism by which early damage is linked to heart disease later in life. There are currently few treatments that protect the heart from the damage caused by chemotherapy. The only approved medication, Zinecard, is known to decrease damage during the weeks and months following treatment with chemotherapy. However, because heart disease in long-term survivors of pediatric cancer takes decades to develop, the long-term effectiveness of this medication is unknown. Evaluating long-term cardiac outcomes in clinical studies requires decades and is impractical. This proposal will use a novel mouse model of chemotherapy-induced heart damage to evaluate long-term cardiac protection by Zinecard. This mouse model allows for evaluation of analogous late cardiac disease in approximately 15 months. Successful completion of the proposed laboratory studies will provide valuable data that will facilitate a more comprehensive approach to cardiac protective measures in children receiving chemotherapy. To accomplish our goals, I have established a collaborative team of clinicians and scientists that span the fields of pediatric oncology, survivorship epidemiology, cardiology, and basic laboratory research.