21st Century Cardio-Oncology: Identifying Cardiac Safety Signals in the Era of Personalized Medicine

Cardiotoxicity is a well-established complication of oncology therapies. Cardiomyopathy resulting from anthracyclines is a classic example. In the past decade, an explosion of novel cancer therapies, often targeted and more specific than traditional therapies, has revolutionized oncology therapy and dramatically changed cancer prognosis. However, some of these therapies have introduced an assortment of cardiovascular (CV) complications. At times, these devastating outcomes have only become apparent after drug approval and have limited the use of potent therapies. There is a growing need for better testing platforms, both for CV toxicity screening, as well as for elucidating mechanisms of cardiotoxicities of approved cancer therapies. This review discusses the utility of nonclinical models (in vitro, in vivo, & in silico) available and highlights recent advancements in modalities like human stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes for developing more comprehensive cardiotoxicity testing and new means of cardioprotection with targeted anticancer therapies.