Investigating the protective effects of exercise in cardiotoxic cancer therapy

Anthracyclines are highly effective anti-cancer drugs used to treat various solid tumours and blood cancers. The clinical use of anthracyclines is limited due to their cardiac side effects. Exercise is a promising therapeutic intervention which has been shown to protect the heart in cancer patients undergoing anthracycline chemotherapy, and in experimental models. This thesis investigates how factors secreted during exercise (termed ‘exerkines’) protect heart muscle cells from damage induced by anthracyclines, specifically doxorubicin. Experiments looking at molecular changes in response to exerkines versus doxorubicin identified processes that may offer cardioprotection, laying the groundwork for future research targeting exerkine-mediated signalling.