Cardiotoxicity is one of the most important adverse reactions of chemotherapy, leading to an important increase of morbidity and mortality (5,6). Cardiotoxicity can appear early or late in the course of the disease, and may vary from subclinical myocardial dysfunction to irreversible heart failure or even death (7).

What is chemotherapy induced cardiotoxicity?

Chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity is a serious complication that limits the clinical use of chemotherapeutic agents, particularly the anthracyclines, since it could eventually culminate in the development of life-threatening cardiomyopathy.

How does chemo affect the heart?

Some types of chemotherapy (primarily in a class of drugs called anthracyclines) weaken the heart muscle from a buildup of calcium and other chemical reactions in the body that release harmful free radicals. Thus, chemotherapy side effects include cardiomyopathy (an enlargement) or congestive heart failure.

What chemo drugs can affect the heart?

Chemotherapy drugs that can cause heart damage include:

• anthracycline drugs such as doxorubicin (Adriamycin), daunorubicin (Cerubidine, daunomycin) and epirubicin (Pharmorubicin)
• cisplatin.
• carboplatin (Paraplatin, Paraplatin AQ)
• paclitaxel (Taxol)
• cyclophosphamide (Procytox)

Which anticancer drug is cardiotoxic and why?

Anthracyclines, a class of chemotherapy drugs, are traditional cancer therapies that have been effective in treating many forms of cancer for the last half century. One of the most prominently used and readily identifiable is the anthracycline DOX. DOX-induced cardiotoxicity is classified as type I, or irreversible.

Cardiotoxicity is a common side effect of chemotherapy video

28 related questions found

Can chemo cause elevated troponin?

Chemotherapy protocols containing alkylating agents or anthracyclines have shown plasma troponin I elevation in 12–33% in adults (43,54,62-65) and up to 47% in children (56).

Which chemotherapy drug has heart failure as a serious toxicity?

New research suggests that the widely used chemotherapy drug doxorubicin may cause heart toxicity, potentially leading to congestive heart failure.

How can I protect my heart during chemo?

Stay healthy after treatment

1. Get to and stay at a healthy weight.
2. Get regular exercise.
3. Eat a healthy diet, with an emphasis on fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
4. Get recommended cancer screenings.
5. Create a survivorship care plan.
6. Keep your follow-up appointments.
7. Take care of your emotional health.

Can chemo cause AFIB?

Cardiotoxicity is a common complication of several cancer treatments. Some studies observed complications of cardiac arrhythmia associated with the treatment of cancer, including atrial fibrillation (AF), supraventricular arrhythmias, and cardiac repolarization abnormalities.

Is heart damage from chemotherapy reversible?

Cardiotoxicity can be defined as a direct effect of chemotherapy resulting in cardiac dysfunction which may lead to reversible/irreversible heart failure.

Does chemo cause heart palpitations?

The most common side effects with this chemotherapy are fatigue, nausea, diarrhea and lab abnormalities. It also can cause heart side effects including chest pain, spasm of the heart arteries or irregular heart rhythms, which can be felt as palpitations.

How is cardiotoxicity treated?

The most common medications used for cardiotoxicity treatment include: Beta-blockers, which slow down a patient's heart rate, lower a patient's blood pressure and strengthen the heart muscle can reduce palpitations and arrhythmias, hypertension and heart failure.

Do chemo side effects get worse with each treatment?

Most types of pain related to chemotherapy get better or go away between treatments. However, nerve damage often gets worse with each dose. Sometimes the drug causing the nerve damage has to be stopped. It can take months or years for nerve damage from chemotherapy to improve or go away.

What is the most common chemotherapy drug to cause significant cardiotoxicity?

The most common chemotherapy drugs related to cardio-toxicity include: 5-fluorouracil (Adrucil) Paclitaxel (Taxol) Anthracyclines (a class of drugs)

Which chemo is most toxic?

Accordingly, PLD + carboplatin chemotherapy regimen showed more nonhematologic toxicity for AOC patients. Direct pairwise meta-analysis results also revealed that the gemcitabine + carboplatin chemotherapy regimen was the most toxic regimen in hematologic for AOC patients among 8 chemotherapy regimens.

Does cisplatin cause cardiotoxicity?

Cisplatin-induced cardiotoxicity is rare, and the prevalence remains unknown. Jakubowski and Kemeny showed that cardiotoxicity occurs in 6% of the patients receiving cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and in 1.6% of the patients receiving 5-FU alone.

How soon do side effects start after chemo?

If you have side effects, they will usually start during the first few weeks of treatment and may become more intense with each treatment cycle.

Does tamoxifen cause irregular heartbeat?

Arrhythmia secondary to tamoxifen is very rare.

Can Arimidex cause heart problems?

Hormone therapy may increase heart problems

Research suggests that women who take hormone therapies called aromatase inhibitors may be at a slightly higher risk of heart problems. The group of aromatase inhibitors includes the drugs: anastrozole (Arimidex)

Is chemotherapy induced cardiomyopathy reversible?

It is often reversible after treatment discontinuation and can be tolerated once again, if indicated, after recovery (10). The risk of developing trastuzumab cardiotoxicity increases in patients who receive concurrent anthracycline therapy especially if the cumulative doxorubicin dose is > 300 mg/m².

Can chemo drugs increase heart rate?

Several drugs used to treat some of the most common forms of cancer, like breast cancer, leukemia and lymphoma, can affect how the heart functions. In some cases, this can lead to heart failure, elevated blood pressure, rapid heartbeat and heart attack.

Can you have chemo with congestive heart failure?

If you have a preexisting heart condition, such as cardiomyopathy, your doctor might suggest a different type of chemotherapy. You may need periodic heart monitoring during treatment, depending on the type of chemotherapy you receive. Monitoring might continue after treatment, too.

What drug can lead to cardiotoxicity?

Cytostatic antibiotics of the anthracycline class are the best known of the chemotherapeutic agents that cause cardiotoxicity. Alkylating agents such as cyclophosphamide, ifosfamide, cisplatin, carmustine, busulfan, chlormethine and mitomycin have also been associated with cardiotoxicity.

Can fluid overload elevate troponin?

Often, patients admitted for non-cardiac problems will have incidentally elevated troponins. On the other hand, patients in heart failure may have positive troponins for any number of reasons, whether due to an acute ischemic myocardial insult or as a consequence of a chronic fluid-overloaded state.

What can cause troponin elevation?

Causes of high troponin levels

• sepsis, which is a severe and potentially life-threatening reaction to an infection entering the bloodstream.
• kidney failure or chronic kidney disease.
• heart failure.
• chemotherapy-related damage to the heart.
• pulmonary embolism.
• heart infection.
• myocarditis, which is inflammation of the heart.