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Review
. 2012 Dec 4;126(23):2749-63.
doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.112.100560.

Cancer therapy-induced cardiac toxicity in early breast cancer: addressing the unresolved issues

Affiliations
Review

Cancer therapy-induced cardiac toxicity in early breast cancer: addressing the unresolved issues

Michel G Khouri et al. Circulation. .
No abstract available

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Cardiovascular Disease, Detection, Prevention and Treatment in Early Breast Cancer. A schematic representation describing the continuum of breast cancer treatment, cardiac toxicity and eventual development of cardiovascular disease, in particular, heart failure. Cancer occurs in the setting of the patient’s baseline health and risk factors profile. With the administration of potentially cardiac toxic therapies, surveillance diagnostic strategies may be adopted; others have proposed ‘primordial’ preventive treatment of all patients. A number of biomarker strategies have been assessed to detect subclinical cardiac toxicity; ‘primary’ preventative treatment has also been proposed. Once there is clear clinical evidence of cardiac toxicity (i.e., ACC/AHA Stage B heart failure), imaging and biomarkers may help to guide treatment; ‘secondary’ prevention is recommended to prevent development of symptomatic heart failure and cardiovascular disease. Finally, in those with overt heart failure, standard heart failure treatment is needed to reduce cardiovascular mortality. ACE indicates angiotensin converting enzyme; CV, cardiovascular; LVEF, left ventricular ejection fraction. ↓ indicates decline.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mechanisms underlying anthracycline-induced cardiac toxicity. Anthracycline-induced generation of oxidative stress is a central mediator of: 1) accelerated myofilament apoptosis via upregulation of p53 pathway and iNOS, 2) suppression of myofilament protein synthesis via inhibition of CPCs and GATA-4, 3) calcium overload resulting in ultrastructural changes to myocytes, 4) alterations in cardiac energy metabolism via downregulation of AMPK. These changes lead to myocardial dysfunction and ultimately heart failure. Adapted from Scott et al. AMPK indicates AMP-activated protein kinase; CPCs, cardiac progenitor cells; iNOS, inducible nitric oxide synthase.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mechanisms underlying molecularly targeted therapeutics-induced cardiac toxicity. Inhibition of Nrg1/ErbB receptors with HER2-directed therapies impacts numerous signaling pathways resulting in 1) suppression of myofilament protein synthesis via the PI3K-Akt pathway, 2) suppression of protein hypertrophy via the MAPK pathway, 3) suppression of cell survival via Src/Fak pathway, 4) upregulation of protein degradation via FOXO signaling. Fak indicates focal adhesion kinase; MAPK, mitogen-activated protein kinase; NO, nitric oxide; Nrg1, neuregulin-1β; PI3K, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase.

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