SABCS'15 Cardiac Meds Appear to Protect Heart Against Herceptin Damage
 

Cardiac Meds Appear to Protect Heart Against Herceptin Damage

Breast cancer patients treated with trastuzumab (Herceptin, Roche) have a lower risk for left ventricular (LV) dysfunction and consequent treatment interruptions when treated prophylactically with standard heart failure medication, according to a study that was terminated early because of positive results and could have practice-changing implications, noted lead investigator Edith Pituskin, RN, PhD, from the University of Alberta in Calgary, Canada. Trastuzumab-related cardiac toxicity "is frequent and potentially lethal" in breast cancer patients, she noted, and there are no effective prevention strategies to date. In the MANICORE study, multivariate analysis indicated that use of both the beta blocker bisoprolol and the angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitor perindopril significantly predicted preserved LV function, the study's secondary outcome. Paradoxically, neither drug prevented change from baseline in LV end-diastolic volume, also known as LV remodeling, which was the study's primary outcome. Nevertheless, the use of the heart drugs "may provide additional safety," said Dr Pituskin.