Project description:Cancer diagnostics and therapies have improved steadily over the last few decades, markedly increasing life expectancy for patients at all ages. However, conventional and newer anti-neoplastic therapies can cause short- and long-term cardiotoxicity. The clinical implications of this cardiotoxicity become more important with the increasing use of cardiotoxic drugs. The implications are especially serious among patients predisposed to adverse cardiac effects, such as youth, the elderly, those with cardiovascular comorbidities, and those receiving additional chemotherapies or thoracic radiation. However, the optimal strategy for preventing and managing chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity remains unknown. The routine use of neurohormonal antagonists for cardioprotection is not currently justified, given the marginal benefits and associated adverse events, particularly with long-term use. The only United States Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency approved treatment for preventing anthracycline-related cardiomyopathy is dexrazoxane. We advocate administering dexrazoxane during cancer treatment to limit the cardiotoxic effects of anthracycline chemotherapy.
Project description:Carbonyl reductase (CBR) catalyzes anthracycline metabolism, and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in CBR impact metabolic efficiency. In pediatric patients, homozygosity for the major allele (G) in the CBR3 gene was associated with increased risk of anthracycline cardiotoxicity. We hypothesized that CBR SNPs contribute to cardiotoxicity in adults.We retrospectively identified female breast cancer patients in the Columbus Breast Tissue Bank Registry treated with adriamycin and cytoxan (AC) from 2003 to 2012. We selected patients who developed cardiomyopathy, defined as a drop in ejection fraction to <50 % or >15 % decrease from pre-therapy. Univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were performed to identify cardiotoxicity risk factors. SNPs were genotyped, and frequency of the major allele (G)/minor allele (A) of the CBR3 and CBR1 genes was calculated.We identified 52 cases of cardiotoxicity after AC and 110 controls. Multivariate analysis showed that trastuzumab (p?=?0.009), diabetes (p?=?0.05), and consumption of >8 alcoholic drinks/week (p?=?0.024) were associated with higher cardiotoxicity risk. Moderate alcohol consumption (<8 drinks/week) was associated with lower risk (p?=?0.009). No association was identified between CBR SNPs and cardiotoxicity (CBR1 p?=?0.261; CBR3 p?=?0.556).This is the first study to evaluate SNPs in the CBR pathway as predictors of AC cardiotoxicity in adults. We did not observe any significant correlation between cardiotoxicity and SNPs within the CBR pathway. Further investigation into CBR SNPs in a larger adult sample is needed. Additional exploration into genomic predictors of anthracycline cardiotoxicity may allow for the development of preventative and therapeutic strategies for those at risk.
Project description:Advances in cancer treatment have significantly improved the survival of patients with cancer, but, unfortunately, many of these treatments also have long-term complications. Cancer treatment-related cardiotoxicities are becoming a significant clinical problem that a new discipline, Cardio-Oncology, was established to advance the cardiovascular care of patients with growing cancer populations. Anthracyclines are a class of chemotherapeutic agents used to treat many cancers in adults and children. Their clinical use is limited by anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity (AIC), which can lead to heart failure. Early-onset cardiotoxicity appears within a year of treatment, whereas late-onset cardiotoxicity occurs > 1 year and even up to decades after treatment completion. The pathophysiology of AIC was hypothesized to be caused by generation of reactive oxygen species that lead to lipid peroxidation, defective mitochondrial biogenesis, and DNA damage of the cardiomyocytes. The accumulation of anthracycline metabolites was also proposed to cause mitochondrial damage and the induction of cardiac cell apoptosis, which induces arrhythmias, contractile dysfunction, and cardiomyocyte death. This paper will provide a general overview of cardiotoxicity focusing on the effect of anthracyclines and their epigenetic molecular mechanisms on cardiotoxicity.
Project description:Cardiovascular disease and cancer are the leading causes of death in developed societies. Despite their effectiveness, many cancer therapies exhibit deleterious cardiovascular side effects such as cardiotoxicity and heart failure. The cardiotoxic effects of anthracyclines such as doxorubicin are the most well-characterized of cardiotoxic anti-cancer therapies. While other anti-neoplastic drugs also induce cardiotoxicity, often leading to heart failure, they are beyond the scope of this review. This review first summarizes the mechanisms of doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity. It then reviews emerging preclinical evidence that high density lipoprotein and its precursor protein apolipoprotein A1, which are known for their protective effects against ischemic cardiovascular disease, may also protect against doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity both directly and indirectly, when used therapeutically.
Project description:Background: Several cardiovascular risk factors have been suggested to be associated with anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity, but their quantitative effects have not reached a consensus. Methods: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases for manuscripts published from inception to February 2021, which reported the results of cardiotoxicity due to anthracycline chemotherapy without trastuzumab. Cardiotoxicity defined by any reduction of left ventricular eject fraction (LVEF) to below 50% or a >10% reduction from baseline was defined as the primary endpoint. Odd ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using a random-effects model meta-analysis. Results: A total of 7,488 patients receiving anthracycline chemotherapy without trastuzumab were included, who had at least one risk factor at baseline. Hypertension (OR: 1.99; 95% CI: 1.43-2.76), diabetes mellitus (OR: 1.74; 95% CI: 1.11-2.74), and obesity (OR: 1.72; 95% CI: 1.13-2.61) were associated with increased risk of cardiotoxicity. In addition, the relative reduction of global longitudinal strain (GLS) from baseline after anthracycline treatment could significantly improve the detection ability of cardiotoxicity (28.5%, 95% CI: 22.1-35.8% vs. 16.4%, 95% CI: 13.4-19.9%) compared with LVEF. The early detection rate of anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity (3 months after chemotherapy) by GLS was 30.2% (95% CI: 24.9-36.1%), which is similar with the overall result of GLS. Conclusions: Hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and obesity are associated with increased risk of anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity, which indicates that corresponding protective strategies should be used during and after anthracycline treatment. The findings of higher detection rate and better early detection ability for cardiotoxicity than LVEF added new proofs for the advantages of GLS in detection of AIC.
Project description:AimsThe aim of this study was to study changes in coronary microcirculation status during and after several cycles of anthracycline treatment.Methods and resultsLarge-white male pigs (n=40) were included in different experimental protocols (ExPr.) according to anthracycline cumulative exposure [0.45 mg/kg intracoronary (IC) doxorubicin per injection] and follow-up: control (no doxorubicin); single injection and sacrifice either at 48 h (ExPr. 1) or 2 weeks (ExPr. 2); 3 injections 2 weeks apart (low cumulative dose) and sacrifice either 2 weeks (ExPr. 3) or 12 weeks (ExPr. 4) after third injection; five injections 2 weeks apart (high cumulative dose) and sacrifice 8 weeks after fifth injection (ExPr. 5). All groups were assessed by serial cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) to quantify perfusion and invasive measurement of coronary flow reserve (CFR). At the end of each protocol, animals were sacrificed for ex vivo analyses. Vascular function was further evaluated by myography in explanted coronary arteries of pigs undergoing ExPr. 3 and controls. A single doxorubicin injection had no impact on microcirculation status, excluding a direct chemical toxicity. A series of five fortnightly doxorubicin injections (high cumulative dose) triggered a progressive decline in microcirculation status, evidenced by reduced CMR-based myocardial perfusion and CFR-measured impaired functional microcirculation. In the high cumulative dose regime (ExPr. 5), microcirculation changes appeared long before any contractile defect became apparent. Low cumulative doxorubicin dose (three bi-weekly injections) was not associated with any contractile defect across long-term follow-up, but provoked persistent microcirculation damage, evident soon after third dose injection. Histological and myograph evaluations confirmed structural damage to arteries of all calibres even in animals undergoing low cumulative dose regimes. Conversely, arteriole damage and capillary bed alteration occurred only after high cumulative dose regime.ConclusionSerial in vivo evaluations of microcirculation status using state-of-the-art CMR and invasive CFR show that anthracyclines treatment is associated with progressive and irreversible damage to the microcirculation. This long-persisting damage is present even in low cumulative dose regimes, which are not associated with cardiac contractile deficits. Microcirculation damage might explain some of the increased incidence of cardiovascular events in cancer survivors who received anthracyclines without showing cardiac contractile defects.
Project description:Anthracyclines remain an essential component of the treatment of many hematologic and solid organ malignancies, but has important implications on cardiovascular disease. Anthracycline induced cardiotoxicity (AIC) ranges from asymptomatic LV dysfunction to highly morbid end- stage heart failure. As cancer survivorship improves, the detection and treatment of AIC becomes more crucial to improve patient outcomes. Current treatment modalities for AIC have been largely extrapolated from treatment of conventional heart failure, but developing effective therapies specific to AIC is an area of growing research interest. This review summarizes the current evidence behind the use of neurohormonal agents, dexrazoxane, and resynchronization therapy in AIC, evaluates the clinical outcomes of advanced therapy and heart transplantation in AIC, and explores future horizons for treatment utilizing gene therapy, stem cell therapy, and mechanism-specific targets.
Project description:AimsDoxorubicin (DOX) is an effective anti-cancer therapeutic, but is associated with both acute and late-stage cardiotoxicity. Children are particularly sensitive to DOX-induced heart failure. Here, the impact of p53 inhibition on acute vs. late-stage DOX cardiotoxicity was examined in a juvenile model.Methods and resultsTwo-week-old MHC-CB7 mice (which express dominant-interfering p53 in cardiomyocytes) and their non-transgenic (NON-TXG) littermates received weekly DOX injections for 5 weeks (25 mg/kg cumulative dose). One week after the last DOX treatment (acute stage), MHC-CB7 mice exhibited improved cardiac function and lower levels of cardiomyocyte apoptosis when compared with the NON-TXG mice. Surprisingly, by 13 weeks following the last DOX treatment (late stage), MHC-CB7 exhibited a progressive decrease in cardiac function and higher rates of cardiomyocyte apoptosis when compared with NON-TXG mice. p53 inhibition blocked transient DOX-induced STAT3 activation in MHC-CB7 mice, which was associated with enhanced induction of the DNA repair proteins Ku70 and Ku80. Mice with cardiomyocyte-restricted deletion of STAT3 exhibited worse cardiac function, higher levels of cardiomyocyte apoptosis, and a greater induction of Ku70 and Ku80 in response to DOX treatment during the acute stage when compared with control animals.ConclusionThese data support a model wherein a p53-dependent cardioprotective pathway, mediated via STAT3 activation, mitigates DOX-induced myocardial stress during drug delivery. Furthermore, these data suggest an explanation as to how p53 inhibition can result in cardioprotection during drug treatment and, paradoxically, enhanced cardiotoxicity long after the cessation of drug treatment.
Project description:The administration of anthracycline drugs induces progressive and dose-related cardiac damage through several cytotoxic mechanisms, including endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. The unfolded protein response plays a crucial role for mitigating misfolded protein accumulation induced by excessive ER stress. We aimed to clarify whether endoplasmic reticulum-selective autophagy machinery (ER-phagy) serves as an alternative system to protect cardiomyocytes from ER stress caused by anthracycline drugs. Primary cultured cardiomyocytes, H9c2 cell lines, and cardiomyocyte-specific transgenic mice, all expressing ss-RFP-GFP-KDEL proteins, were used as ER-phagy reporter models. We generated loss-of-function models using RNA interference or gene-trap mutagenesis techniques. We assessed phenotypes and molecular signaling pathways using immunoblotting, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, cell viability assays, immunocytochemical and histopathological analyses, and cardiac ultrasonography. The administration of doxorubicin (Dox) activated ER-phagy in ss-RFP-GFP-KDEL-transduced cardiomyocytes. In addition, Dox-induced cardiomyopathy models of ER-phagy reporter mice showed marked activation of ER-phagy in the myocardium compared to those of saline-treated mice. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction analyses revealed that Dox enhanced the expression of cell-cycle progression gene 1 (CCPG1), one of the ER-phagy receptors, in H9c2 cells. Ablation of CCPG1 in H9c2 cells resulted in the reduced ER-phagy activity, accumulation of proapoptotic proteins, and deterioration of cell survival against Dox administration. CCPG1-hypomorphic mice developed more severe deterioration in systolic function in response to Dox compared to wild-type mice. Our findings highlight a compensatory role of CCPG1-driven ER-phagy in reducing Dox toxicity. With further study, ER-phagy may be a potential therapeutic target to mitigate Dox-induced cardiomyopathy.