(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- New research shows that the anticancer drug ZD6126 can lead to heart damage in rats. However, researchers say that by combining the cancer drug with a blood pressure medication can stop the heart damage without affecting the antitumor effect.

Cancer drugs such as ZD6126 target blood vessels that feed a tumor. These types of drugs are associated with cardiovascular problems including high blood pressure or heart attack.
 

Researchers of AstraZeneca in the U.K., investigated how these adverse effects happen in rats. They studied the rats’ heart rates and blood pressure and measured a biomarker that indicated damage to the heart. They found the drug increased the blood pressure and heart rate which was associated with a higher level of the biomarker and increased death of heart muscle tissue. However, they found that these cardiac side effects can be treated by adding a blood pressure medication without changing the effect of the cancer drug.

SOURCE: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, published online Nov. 13, 2007