Heart disease and cancer share common risk factors, genetic predispositions, and metabolic and inflammatory components. Metabolic reprogramming can drive disease progression in both, with cardiometabolic syndrome-marked by obesity, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and hypertension-contributing to cancer development. Studies link around 20% of cancer cases to obesity, while elevated glucose and triglyceride levels increase the risk of liver, thyroid, and respiratory cancers. Beyond treatment-related cardiotoxicity, cancer patients often have pre-existing cardiovascular disease (CVD) at diagnosis, highlighting their bidirectional relationship. Patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) offer a powerful platform to study these links at a personalized level. iPSC models help explore shared molecular mechanisms, metabolic dysregulation, inflammation, and cardiotoxicity. This review examines emerging themes in cardio-oncology and cardio-metabolism, emphasizing how iPSC-based approaches can reveal disease connections and inform new therapies.
Kojic et al. (Fri,) studied this question.