Impact of CaV1.3 L-Type Calcium Channels on Arrhythmogenesis in Cancer

Cardiovascular disease and cancer remain the leading causes of death worldwide. Although numerous cancer therapies have improved survival rates, they also increase the risk of cardiomyopathy, heart failure, and arrhythmias. These cardiovascular complications can limit treatment options and adversely affect the long-term quality of life of cancer survivors. CaV1.3, an L-type calcium channel encoded by CACNA1D, emerges as a central molecular mediator linking cardiovascular disease and cancer. It regulates calcium entry into cardiomyocytes and contributes to sinoatrial pacemaking and atrioventricular conduction. It also contributes to proliferation, migration, and therapy resistance in several cancers. Chemotherapy-induced oxidative stress, inflammatory signaling, hypoxia, and transcriptional changes can modulate the expression, gating, splicing, and trafficking of CaV1.3 channels. All these changes destabilize diastolic depolarization and impair conduction, thereby promoting arrhythmias in cancer patients. This review focuses on CaV1.3 biology in cardio-oncology, along with the mechanisms of chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity. It outlines the role of CaV1.3 as a key mediator linking cancer therapies to subsequent nodal dysfunction and increased arrhythmia susceptibility. It also expands on how patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes can model CaV1.3 dysregulation as well as support the development of targeted therapies. We propose that CaV1.3 represents a mechanistic bridge linking cancer therapy, calcium signaling, and cardiac electrophysiology, and that elucidating its pathophysiology may guide the design of targeted strategies in cardio-oncology.