August 9, 2017 – CANTOS

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Anchor lead: Can reducing inflammation help heart attack survivors? Elizabeth Tracey reports

Reducing inflammation after someone has a heart attack has been attempted for some time using various medications. Now a new one targeting another pathway may prove helpful, according to industry reported results from a trial known as CANTOS. Michael Blaha, a preventive cardiologist at Johns Hopkins, comments.

Blaha: I’m really excited about the CANTOS study, which for the first time has shown that an anti-inflammatory drug, given after a heart attack, may reduce the risk of future heart attacks. And this is a big win for biology because it shows that modulating the inflammatory cascade actually has effects on atherosclerosis and heart disease and not just things like rheumatoid arthritis or other inflammatory conditions.  :28

Blaha says further results from the trial should provide a clearer picture of the benefits of this approach, and at least will likely identify another target for reducing someone’s risk of a second heart attack. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.