Cancer drug could aid heart attack recovery, study finds

British Heart Foundation hopes medicines which activate an inflammation-reducing white blood cell will revolutionise treatment, reports Jon Sharman

Researchers hope initial results will lead to more expansive studies (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A cancer drug may help a heart attack patient recover and even reduce the likelihood they will have further attacks, an early-stage study suggests.

Scientists from the University of Cambridge found a low dose of aldesleukin injected under the skin of patients who had suffered an acute heart attack increased the activation of immune cells shown to protect the heart.

Specifically, the drug was shown to activate a rare white blood cell called innate type 2 lymphocyte (ILC2). Ordinarily it is administered to kidney cancer patients to shrink their tumours.