Are just Mugas and Echos enough?....
 

A small study--but the 21% incidence of cardiotoxicty of those treated with Herceptin and anthracyclines is an eye-opener and could once again make the case for Taxol, Taxotetere, etc. when treating Her2+ BC. Also, it appears blood testing for cardiac dysfunction is important for detecting problems.---bird





Am J Cardiol. 2011 Mar 1. [Epub ahead of print]
Early Detection and Prediction of Cardiotoxicity in Chemotherapy-Treated Patients.

Sawaya H, Sebag IA, Plana JC, Januzzi JL, Ky B, Cohen V, Gosavi S, Carver JR, Wiegers SE, Martin RP, Picard MH, Gerszten RE, Halpern EF, Passeri J, Kuter I, Scherrer-Crosbie M.
Cardiac Ultrasound Laboratory and Division of Cardiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
Abstract

As breast cancer survival increases, cardiotoxicity associated with chemotherapeutic regimens such as anthracyclines and trastuzumab becomes a more significant issue. Assessment of the left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction fails to detect subtle alterations in LV function. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether more sensitive echocardiographic measurements and biomarkers could predict future cardiac dysfunction in chemotherapy-treated patients. Forty-three patients diagnosed with breast cancer who received anthracyclines and trastuzumab therapy underwent echocardiography and blood sampling at 3 time points (baseline and 3 and 6 months during the course of chemotherapy). The LV ejection fraction; peak systolic myocardial longitudinal, radial, and circumferential strain; echocardiographic markers of diastolic function; N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide; and high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I were measured. Nine patients (21%) developed cardiotoxicity (1 at 3 months and 8 at 6 months) as defined by the Cardiac Review and Evaluation Committee reviewing trastuzumab. A decrease in longitudinal strain from baseline to 3 months and detectable high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I at 3 months were independent predictors of the development of cardiotoxicity at 6 months. The LV ejection fraction, parameters of diastolic function, and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide did not predict cardiotoxicity. In conclusion, cardiac troponin plasma concentrations and longitudinal strain predict the development of cardiotoxicity in patients treated with anthracyclines and trastuzumab. The 2 parameters may be useful to detect chemotherapy-treated patients who may benefit from alternative therapies, potentially decreasing the incidence of cardiotoxicity and its associated morbidity and mortality.
Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
PMID: 21371685 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]