New AI Model Assesses Heart Attack Risks for Cancer Survivors
Researchers at the University of Leicester have developed an innovative artificial intelligence tool to evaluate the risk of recurrent heart attacks in patients with cancer. Individuals battling cancer who experience a heart attack often face heightened dangers due to their compromised cardiovascular health, increasing their chances of mortality, severe bleeding, or additional cardiovascular complications.
Cancer characteristics can elevate risks of bleeding, arterial clotting, or a combination, necessitating tailored anti-platelet therapies for prevention after the initial event. Previously, clinicians lacked a standardized method to guide care for this high-risk population. Now, an international research team, led by experts at the University of Leicester, has created the first specialized risk prediction model for these patients.
ONCO-ACS: Combining Cancer and Clinical Data
Dubbed ONCO-ACS, this AI-driven tool integrates cancer-specific factors with conventional clinical information to forecast the likelihood of death, major bleeding, or another cardiac incident within six months. The model draws from an extensive analysis of over one million heart attack cases across England, Sweden, and Switzerland, encompassing more than 47,000 individuals with cancer. The findings appear in a recent edition of The Lancet.
Dr. Florian A. Wenzl, an honorary fellow at the University of Leicester and lead author of the study, emphasized the oversight in research for this group. “Cancer patients with heart attacks have long been neglected in clinical research, despite being one of the most challenging groups we see in cardiology,” he stated. The analysis revealed stark outcomes: nearly one in three such patients died within six months, about one in 14 endured a major bleed, and one in six faced another heart attack, stroke, or cardiovascular death. “Now this new tool is able to give doctors reliable information to tailor treatment and balance the benefits and harms,” Wenzl added.
Addressing the Growing Overlap of Cancer and Heart Disease
Progress in treating both heart conditions and cancer has led to more cases where the two diseases intersect, presenting cardiologists and oncologists with increasingly intricate patient scenarios. “Significant advances in the management of heart disease and cancer alike have created new opportunities for these conditions to coexist. As a result, the growing overlap between cancer and heart attacks will confront cardiologists and oncologists with an increasingly complex patient population. We are addressing this pressing issue through a real-world data perspective,” noted Professor David Adlam, an interventional cardiologist in the University of Leicester’s Department of Cardiovascular Sciences and senior author.
The team anticipates that the ONCO-ACS score will soon become part of routine clinical workflows to inform choices on catheter interventions and antiplatelet regimens. It offers a validated framework to apply existing clinical guidelines and could shape upcoming clinical trials to enhance outcomes for cancer patients post-heart attack.
Senior author Professor Thomas F. Lüscher from the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London and the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals highlighted its potential. “By accounting for both cancer and heart disease, ONCO-ACS marks a step towards truly personalised medicine,” he said.
The research received funding from Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation, with additional support from Health Data Research UK’s Big Data for Complex Diseases Driver Programme.
