Upfront dexrazoxane for the reduction of anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity in adults with preexisting cardiomyopathy and cancer: a consecutive case series
Abstract
Cardiotoxicity associated with anthracycline-based chemotherapies has limited their use in patients with preexisting cardiomyopathy or heart failure. Dexrazoxane protects against the cardiotoxic effects of anthracyclines, but in the USA and some European countries, its use had been restricted to adults with advanced breast cancer receiving a cumulative doxorubicin (an anthracycline) dose > 300 mg/m2. We evaluated the off-label use of dexrazoxane as a cardioprotectant in adult patients with preexisting cardiomyopathy, undergoing anthracycline chemotherapy. Between July 2015 and June 2017, five consecutive patients, with preexisting, asymptomatic, systolic left ventricular (LV) dysfunction who required anthracycline-based chemotherapy, were concomitantly treated with off-label dexrazoxane, administered 30 min before each anthracycline dose, regardless of cancer type or stage. Demographic, cardiovascular, and cancer-related outcomes were compared to those of three consecutive patients with asymptomatic cardiomyopathy treated earlier at the same hospital without dexrazoxane. Mean age of the five dexrazoxane-treated patients and three patients treated without dexrazoxane was 70.6 and 72.6 years, respectively. All five dexrazoxane-tr...Continue Reading
References
Citations
Related Concepts
Related Feeds
Cardiotoxicity
Cardiotoxicity refers to the muscle damage or dysfunction of heart electrophysiology caused by drug intake or due to disease complications. It is a well-known side effect of several cytotoxic drugs, especially of the anthracyclines and can lead to long term morbidity. Here is the latest research.
Cardiomyopathy
Cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart muscle, that can lead to muscular or electrical dysfunction of the heart. It is often an irreversible disease that is associated with a poor prognosis. There are different causes and classifications of cardiomyopathies. Here are the latest discoveries pertaining to this disease.
Cardiogenic Shock
Cardiogenic shock is a devastating consequence of acute myocardial infarction and is associated with an extremely high mortality. Here is the latest research.