The Effects of Metformin on Carfilzomib-Induced Endothelial Cells Toxicity
The anti-cancer agent Carfilzomib proved to provide a significant and clinically meaningful reduction in the risk of death associated with multiple myeloma-a type of cancer that affects plasma cells. However, carfilzomib is also associated with cardiovascular diseases-such as heart failure, ischemic heart disease and hypertension-which are the second leading cause of death in cancer survivors. It was experimentally proven that Carfilzomib has a dose-dependent lethal effect on endothelial cells. Given the prophylactic effects of metformin on the carfilzomib-induced cardio-vascular events, it is hypothesized that metformin can have similar protective effects on endothelial cells. However, no experimental studies have tested the effects of metformin on the carfilzomib-induced endothelial-cell toxicity and thus those potential prophylactic effects represent a gap in our current understanding of the coadministration of carfilzomib + metformin. This serves as the main impetus to my research objective to assess the effects of metformin on carfilzomib-induced endothelial-cell toxicity.