Assessing Cardiotoxicity Due to Cancer Therapy
A new field of cardiac-oncology is rapidly growing to help fight the second leading cause of death among cancer patients
Most cancer patients who undergo chemotherapy get cardiomyopathy with some loss of LV function, said Joseph R. Carver, M.D., chief of staff and professor of medicine, Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania. He said heart failure is seen in between 1-5 percent of these patients.
Another cardio-protective treatment option is the use of liposomal doxorubicin, which Carver said uses a lipid encapsulation of the chemo drug. This increases the size of the drug molecule, which prevents it from entering the heart, but it can still infiltrate tumors.
An investigational chemo agent now in trials that may offer additional cardioprotection is zoptarelin doxorubicin, a so-called Trojan horse agent. It consists of doxorubicin linked to a small peptide agonist to the luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) receptor. These receptors are present in large numbers in endometrial, ovarian, prostate and breast cancers. Carver said the receptors allow targeted release of the doxorubicin mainly in cancer cells, instead of systemic use of the agent where it causes collateral damage to the heart.
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