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Bonnie Ky, MD, MSCE

Founders Associate Professor of Cardio-Oncology
Department: Medicine

Contact information
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
11-105 Smilow Center for Translational Research
3400 Civic Center Boulevard
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office: 215-573-6606
Fax: 215-746-7415
Education:
BS (Chemical Engineering )
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1995.
MD (Medicine)
University of Pennsylvania, 2001.
MSCE (Clinical Epidemiology)
University of Pennsylvania, 2009.
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Description of CVI Expertise

Cardiotoxicity from cancer therapy is detectable, preventable and treatable. This is the focus of Dr. Ky’s research program. Cancer therapies are becoming increasingly effective at killing cancer, but these treatments also have toxic side effects, resulting in a growing population of cancer patients and survivors with heart disease. In our lab, we are studying innovative strategies to understand the changes in heart function that occur with common cancer therapies, and how we can apply these methods to understand an individual patient’s risk of developing heart disease and heart failure. Our goals are to bring these exciting research findings to the clinic and continue our mission of delivering state-of-the-art, evidence-based medicine to cancer patients and survivors regionally and nationally. We highlight 3 recent discoveries from our lab below.

How breast cancer therapy affects heart function. In a recent paper published in Circulation, we rigorously and comprehensively define the precise changes that occur with heart function over time in breast cancer patients treated with doxorubicin, trastuzumab and radiation. We found that with these cancer therapies, there are modest, but persistent declines in heart function, even at 3 years post treatment exposure. We also determined that afterload, or blood pressure, is a major determinant of this adverse remodeling. These findings might suggest that aggressive blood pressure control is critical in mitigating a patient’s risk of developing heart dysfunction. We have proposed new trials to test this hypothesis.

How innovative new imaging tools can predict heart damage with cancer therapy. We are also interested in discovering new strategies to predict the risk of subsequent heart damage in cancer patients. In two separate manuscripts published in the Journal of American College of Cardiology Imaging, we have used 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional ultrasound techniques in order to more precisely and deeply understand how the heart functions. We have discovered that early changes in 2D and 3D circumferential strain, or deformation, are associated with the risk of developing cardiotoxicity with anthracyclines.

How simple blood tests – using new markers – can predict heart damage with cancer therapy. We are also studying the role of new blood markers of oxidative stress – and how they can predict who will develop heart damage with anthracycline chemotherapy. These findings were published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. We are now testing in a clinical trial how these blood markers can be used to understand why statins might protect the heart and who may benefit the most from statins when receiving anthracycline chemotherapy.

Selected Publications

Upshaw JN, Nelson J, Rodday AM, Kumar AJ, Kelin AK, Konstam MA, Wong JB, Jaffe IZ, Ky B, Friedberg J, Maurer M, Dent DM, Parsons SK.: Association of Preexisting Heart Failure With Outcomes in Older Patients With Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma. JAMA Cardiol March 2023 Notes: Online ahead of print.

Narayan HK, Sheline K, Wong V, Kuo D, Choo S, Yoon J, Leger K, Kutty S, Fradley M, Tremoulet A, Ky B, Armenian S, Guha A: Cardiovascular toxicities with pediatric tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy: An analysis of adverse events reported to the Food and Drug Administration. Pediatr Blood Cancer 70(2): e30059, Feb 2023.

Yegya-Raman N, Kegelman TP, Lee SH, Kallan MJ, Kim KN, Natarajan J, Deek M, Zou W, O'Reilly SE, Zhang Z, Levin W, Cengel K, Kao G, Cohen RB, Sun LS, Langer CJ, Aggarwal C, Singh AP, O'Quinn R, Ky B, Apte Aditya, Deasy J, Xiao Y, Berman AT, Jabbour SK, Feigenberg SJ: Death without progression as an endpoint to describe cardiac radiation effects in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Clin Transl Radiat Oncol 39, January 2023.

Bottinor W, Flamand Y, Haas N, O'Neill A, DiPaolo R, Subramanian P, Cella D, Hundley WG, Wagner L, Salsman J, Ky B.: Cardiovascular Implications of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Inhibition Among Adolescents/Young Adults in ECOG-ACRIN E2805. JNCCN 2023 Notes: Manuscript accepted.

Sturgeon KM, Smith AM, Federici EH, Kodali N, Kessler R, Wyluda E, Cream LV, Ky B, Schmitz KH: Feasibility of a tailored home-based exercise intervention during neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer patients. BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil 14(1): 31, Feb 2022

Demissei BG, Vedage NA, Hubbard RA, Smith AM, Chung J, Lefebvre B, Get, KD, Thavendiranathan P, Narayan HK, Ky B.: Longitudinal Right Ventricular Systolic Function Changes in Breast Cancer Patients Treated with Cardiotoxic Cancer Therapy. JACC CardioOncol November 2022.

Kobo O, Raisi-Estabragh Z, Gevaert S, Rana JS, Van Spall HGC, Roguin A, Petersen SE, Ky B, Mamas MA: Impact of cancer diagnosis on distribution and trends of cardiovascular hospitalizations in the USA between 2004 and 2017. Eur Heart J Qual Care Clin Outcomes 8(7): 787-797, Oct 2022.

Matetic A, Ky B, Yang EH, Myint PK, Rashid M, Zieroth S, Paul TK, Elbadawi A, Mamas MA: Prevalence, characteristics and mortality of cancer patients undergoing pericardiocentesis in the United States between 2004 and 2017. Cancer Med Oct 2022.

Ganatra S, Dani SS, Kumar A, Khan SU, Wadhera R, Neilan TG, Thavendiranathan P, Barac A, Hermann J, Leja M, Deswal A, Fradley M, Liu JE, Sadler D, Asnani A, Baldassarre LA, Gupta D, Yang E, Guha A, Brown SA, Stevens J, Hayek SS, Porter C, Kalra A, Baron SJ, Ky B, Virani SS, Kazi D, Nasir K, Nohria A: Impact of Social Vulnerability on Comorbid Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease Mortality in the United States. JACC CardioOncol 4(3): 326-337, Sep 2022.

Hundley WG, D'Agostino R, Crotts T, Craver K, Hackney MH, Jordan JH, Ky B, Wanger LI, Herrington DM, Yeboah J, Reding KW, Ladd AC, Rapp SR, Russo S, O'COnnell N, Weaver KE, Dressler EV, Ge Y, Melin SA, Gudena V, Lesser GJ.: Statins and Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction Following Doxorubicin Treatment. NEJM Evid 1(9), September 2022.

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Last updated: 04/26/2023
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