Arq. Bras. Cardiol. 2018; 111(5): 729-730
Cardiovascular Aggression by Doxorubicin: The Search for Mechanisms
DOI: 10.5935/abc.20180214
This Short Editorial is referred by the Research article "Arterial Stiffness Use for Early Monitoring of Cardiovascular Adverse Events due to Anthracycline Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer Patients. A Pilot Study".
Cardio-oncology is an emerging subject in cardiology events and journals. Increased cancer (CA) incidence and survival rates, easier access to health care and the multiplicity of chemotherapy regimens all contribute to the increase in the diagnosis of cardiovascular complications in patients with CA. The increase in CA prevalence and mortality, as well as its cardiovascular complications, is the price that nations pay for the aging of their populations in an oncogenic environment. Therefore, we are faced with an epidemiological problem and major clinical challenges.
The discovery, in the 1960s, in the Adriatic Sea coast, of a red pigment produced by a fungus with great cytotoxic power has changed paradigms and introduced the concept of cure in clinical cancerology. Reports of toxicity previously presented with other chemotherapeutic agents had also been confirmed with the new class of anthracyclines. The novelty was the real possibility of cure. In the risk-benefit evaluation, adverse effects were neglected on behalf of the decision to use it. Warnings on the cardiotoxicity of doxorubicin (DOXO) came with the description of the classic ‘von Hoff curve’, where the risk of heart failure incidence at cumulative doses above 500 mg/m was demonstrated.
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