Carl Ade, PhD

Department: Kinesiology
cade@k-state.edu
Departmental Website

Feature story in JCRC's 2022 Conquest magazine

Dr. Ade’s group identifies and characterizes patients at risk of developing cancer treatment-related cardiotoxicity in order to mitigate cardiovascular dysfunction while optimizing cancer outcomes. This work is critical because 14 million pediatric and adult cancer survivors in the U.S. who demonstrate continued improvements in anti-cancer treatment efficacy have also experienced a parallel rise in the incidence of cancer treatment-related toxicity, leading to morbidity and mortality. Moreover, the onset of such cardiotoxic side effects often prompts deviation from optimal chemotherapy dosing and can result in increased cancer reoccurrence and decreased overall survival.

Cancer treatment-related cardiotoxicity can result from direct and indirect effects on cardiac myocytes and the vascular endothelium and smooth muscle, all of which adversely impact cardiovascular health. We investigate changes in cardiovascular function resulting from chemotherapy, immunotherapy, hormone deprivation, and radiation, with the goal of developing screening, diagnostic and/or management strategies that can be integrated with evidence-based cancer treatment regimens. We aim to determine the biological mechanisms that mediate cancer treatment-related cardiotoxicity and develop and evaluate the efficacy of interventions—lifestyle and pharmacologic—for mitigating or reversing these adverse changes in physiological function.