Since their discovery more than 50 years ago, anthracyclines have become the mainstay for the treatment of many cancers. However, anthracyclines are associated with a risk of heart failure, with the risk proportionate to the cumulative exposure; cardiac injury appears to occur with every dose, and cardiac-biopsy specimens obtained within hours after a single dose of an anthracycline (e.g. doxor...

Dexrazoxane (ICRF-187) is a catalytic inhibitor of the nuclear enzyme DNA topoisomerase II (topo II). It protects cells against topo II poisons, such as etoposide and teniposide, by hindering the DNA cleavage reaction of the target enzyme. We have previously shown that this antagonism also extends to an in vivo model. Thus, ICRF-187 protected mice against supralethal doses of etoposide and amsa...

PURPOSE We intended to determine whether dexrazoxane (DZR) is cardioprotective during administration of adjuvant anthracycline-based chemotherapy followed by a 1-year trastuzumab treatment. METHODS The medical records of 228 patients who underwent surgical resection and received adjuvant chemotherapy with trastuzumab for human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2)-positive breast can...