Research Advances and Therapeutic Strategies (RATS) in Cardio-Oncology

A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Cancer Therapy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 May 2026 | Viewed by 1228

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
1. Department of Medicine, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA 30912, USA
2. Cardio-Oncology Program, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA 30912, USA
Interests: cardio-oncology; cardio–kidney–metabolic syndrome; health disparities; proteomics; artificial intelligence

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Guest Editor Assistant
1. Department of Medicine, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA 30912, USA
2. Cardio-Oncology Program, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA 30912, USA
Interests: cardio-oncology; artificial intelligence; proteomics; health disparities; cardio–kidney–metabolic syndrome

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor Assistant
1. Department of Medicine, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA 30912, USA
2. Cardio-Oncology Program, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA 30912, USA
Interests: cardio-oncology; health disparities; cardio–kidney–metabolic syndrome; artificial intelligence; proteomics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Advances in oncology have improved cancer survivorship; however, they have also revealed a spectrum of treatment-related cardiovascular complications—from anthracycline-induced cardiomyopathy and radiation-mediated vascular injury to immune checkpoint inhibitor myocarditis and targeted-therapy arrhythmias. Emerging research has uncovered the mechanisms driving these toxicities, including oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction, immune dysregulation, and genetic susceptibility.

Simultaneously, progress in imaging, biomarkers, and AI-driven models has refined our ability to stratify risk and detect subclinical injury. Multidisciplinary teams, with a focus on health equity, are essential to translating these tools into practice. However, we still lack cancer-specific risk scores, cardioprotective trials, and comprehensive guidelines for novel agents and long-term survivorship care.

We invite submissions encompassing studies that elucidate the molecular and genetic drivers of therapy-related cardiotoxicity; investigations that validate advanced imaging modalities, circulating biomarkers, digital health platforms, and AI-driven tools for early detection and seamless collaboration between oncology and cardiology teams; evaluations of novel cardioprotective strategies—whether pharmacologic, lifestyle-based, or device-oriented; the development of practical risk stratification frameworks and implementable care pathways tailored to oncology populations; and analyses that address health disparities and real-world cardiovascular outcomes across diverse cancer survivor cohorts.

Through a collaborative scientific inquiry, we aim to improve cardiovascular outcomes for patients facing the challenges of both cancer and heart disease. We look forward to your contributions.

Dr. Avirup Guha
Guest Editor

Dr. Viraj Shah
Dr. Tarek Nahle
Guest Editor Assistants

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cancers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • cardiotoxicity
  • artificial intelligence
  • multi-omics
  • cardiac toxicities
  • surveillance
  • cardioprotective agents
  • multimodal imaging

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

24 pages, 842 KB  
Article
Impact of Diabetes and Metformin on Cardiovascular Outcomes in Prostate Cancer Patients Aged 66 and Older: The Role of Social Determinants of Health and Racial Disparities
by Priyanshu Nain, Omar M. Makram, Viraj Shah, Harikrishnan Hyma Kunhiraman, Nickolas Stabellini, Biplab Datta, Stephanie Jiang, Vraj Patel, Lakshya Seth, Aditya Bhave, Sarah A. Malik, Yan Gong, Michael G. Fradley, Darryl P. Leong, Ryan A. Harris, Yi-Hsin Hung, Austin Yen-Hung Lin, Neal L. Weintraub and Avirup Guha
Cancers 2025, 17(17), 2854; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers17172854 - 30 Aug 2025
Viewed by 846
Abstract
Background: This study evaluated the impact of diabetes mellitus (DM) and its treatments on cardiovascular outcomes in prostate cancer (PC) patients aged 66 years and older, with or without androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) exposure. Methods: Using the SEER-Medicare database (2009–2017), two cohorts were [...] Read more.
Background: This study evaluated the impact of diabetes mellitus (DM) and its treatments on cardiovascular outcomes in prostate cancer (PC) patients aged 66 years and older, with or without androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) exposure. Methods: Using the SEER-Medicare database (2009–2017), two cohorts were created: Cohort 1 included all PC patients enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B; Cohort 2 was a subset of Cohort 1 receiving ADT and enrolled in Medicare Part D. Exposures were DM and DM medications. Outcomes included cardiovascular events (CVEs), cardiovascular mortality (CVm), PC-specific mortality (PCsm), and all-cause mortality, analyzed using multivariable Fine-Gray and Cox models. Results: Cohort 1 included 150,647 PC patients (32% with DM, median age 72). DM was associated with higher risk of CVE (subdistribution hazard ratio [sHR] 1.20, 95% CI 1.17–1.22), CVm (sHR 1.35, 1.28–1.43), and all-cause mortality (adjusted HR [aHR] 1.22, 1.19–1.26) (all p < 0.001). Non-Hispanic Blacks (NHBs) and patients from lower socioeconomic (SES) and education areas experienced comparable or worse outcomes. In Cohort 2 (n = 14,938), DM patients on non-metformin therapies had higher all-cause mortality (aHR 1.33, 1.11–1.25; p = 0.002) than those on metformin, particularly in NHB and low education groups. Sensitivity analyses with follow-up limited to two years showed consistent results as overall. Conclusions: Diabetic PC patients, especially NHB, lower SES and lower education subgroups, were associated with worse cardiovascular and all-cause mortality outcomes. Metformin may be associated with better outcomes in these populations, warranting further research on the disparities in PC and diabetes, and cardioprotective effects of DM medications across different subpopulations. Full article
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