Reduced cardiotoxicity of doxorubicin by a 6-hour infusion regimen. A prospective randomized evaluation. Daunorubicin-induced cell kill with 1-hour versus 24-hour infusions: a randomized comparison in children with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Randomized prospective clinical trial of high-dose epirubicin and dexrazoxane in patients with advanced breast cancer and soft tissue sarcomas. Sequenced compared with simultaneous anthracycline and cyclophosphamide in high-risk stage I and II breast cancer: final analysis from INT-0137 (S9313). Multicycle dose-intensive chemotherapy for women with high-risk primary breast cancer: results of International Breast Cancer Study Group Trial 15-95. Protective effect of coenzyme Q10 on anthracyclines cardiotoxicity: control study in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Multicenter randomized phase III study of the cardioprotective effect of dexrazoxane (Cardioxane) in advanced/metastatic breast cancer patients treated with anthracycline-based chemotherapy. ICRF-187 permits longer treatment with doxorubicin in women with breast cancer. Randomized trial of the cardioprotective agent ICRF-187 in pediatric sarcoma patients treated with doxorubicin.
In order to evaluate the possible cardiosparing effect of a prolonged infusion of doxorubicin as compared with the standard mode of administration 62 consecutive patients with metastatic carcinoma of the breast or carcinoma of the ovary Stage III or IV were prospectively randomized to receive doxorubicin either as a rapid infusion over 15 to 20 minutes at 8 AM or as a continuous infusion over 6 hours, 8 AM to 2 PM. The remaining protocol was identical for the two groups. The cardiotoxic effect of doxorubicin was evaluated by history and physical examination and by the decline in resting ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) as determined by gated pool radionuclide angiography with technetium 99m (99mTc) and by the decline in the height of the QRS complexes in the standard leads of the echocardiogram (ECG). Initially there were 31 patients in each group. The cumulative dose of doxorubicin, was 410 mg/m2 +/- 42 SD in the standard infusion group and 428 mg/m2 +/- 48 SD in the 6-hour infusion group. The mean decline in LVEF after a cumulative doxorubicin dose of 300 mg/m2 was 17% in the first group and only 4.1% in the second. After 400 mg/m2 the mean fall in LVEF was 21% in the first group and 6% in the second. The mean decline in QRS voltage after 300 mg/m2 was 29% and 1.5%, respectively. Four patients, all in the standard infusion group, developed congestive heart failure. These data suggest that slow infusion of doxorubicin is associated with reduced cardiotoxicity. Daunorubicin (DNR) is one of the most important drugs in treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Prolonged infusions of anthracyclines are less cardiotoxic but it has not been investigated whether the in vivo leukemic cell kill is equivalent to short-term infusions.
                In the cooperative treatment study COALL-92 for childhood ALL 178 patients were randomized to receive in a therapeutic window a single dose of 36 mg/m (2) DNR either as a 1-h (85 patients) or 24-h infusion (93 patients). Daily measurements of white blood cell count (WBC) and peripheral blood smears for seven days could be evaluated centrally in 101 patients (1-h: 43 patients, 24-h: 58 patients).
                The proportional decline of blasts at day 7 after DNR infusion showed no statistically significant difference between the two treatment arms. At day 3 the median percentage of blasts was less than 10%, at day 7 less than 2% for either the 1-h or 24-h infusion. Twelve patients (1-h: 5 patients, 24-h: 7 patients) had an absolute number of more than 1000 blasts per mul peripheral blood (PB) at day 7 after DNR infusion (DNR poor responders). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed an equal probability of EFS for the short- and long-term infusion group (24-h: 83%+/-5; 1-h: 81+/-6) after a median observation time of 12.3 years.
                We conclude that in children with ALL a 24-h infusion of DNR has the same in vivo cytotoxicity for leukemic cells as a 1-h infusion. This offers the possibility to use prolonged infusions with hopefully less cardiotoxicity without loss of efficacy. We conducted a randomized trial to evaluate primarily the cardioprotective effect of dexrazoxane (DEX) in patients with advanced breast cancer and soft tissue sarcomas (STS) treated with high-dose epirubicin (EPI). We wished also to determine the value of radioimmunoscintigraphy (RIS) in the assessment of anthracycline cardiotoxicity.
                Patients with breast cancer (n = 95) or STS (n = 34) received EPI 160 mg/m2 by intravenous (I.V.) bolus every 3 weeks with or without DEX 1,000 mg/m2 I.V. Cardiac monitoring included multigated radionuclide (MUGA) scans with determination of resting left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and RIS with indium 111 antimyosin monoclonal antibodies.
                In either disease, antitumor response rates, time to progression, and survival did not significantly differ between the two arms. There was little difference in noncardiac toxicity for the two treatment groups. All methods of cardiac evaluation clearly documented the cardioprotective effect of DEX. Four patients developed congestive heart failure (CHF), all in the EPI arm. The decrease in LVEF from baseline was significantly greater in the control group. An abnormal antimyosin uptake was observed early in both arms and progressively increased during treatment. However, this increase was significantly higher in the EPI group (P = .004).
                DEX significantly protects against the development of cardiotoxicity when high single doses of EPI are used. Apparently, there was no evidence of an adverse impact of DEX on antitumor activity. Although RIS is a sensitive technique in detecting anthracycline cardiac damage, its specificity is low and it cannot be considered a primary test for guiding anthracycline treatment. We conducted a phase III randomized study of two adjuvant treatment schedules of doxorubicin (A) and cyclophosphamide (C) in early-stage breast cancer to determine if administration of sequential single agents (A --> C) results in superior disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) versus the same total dose given in combination (AC).
                High-risk node-negative or low-risk node-positive breast cancer patients received AC given: (arm I) concurrently (AC) doxorubicin 54 mg/m2 and cyclophosphamide 1.2 g/m2 intravenously (IV) every 3 weeks for six cycles; or (arm II) in sequence (A C) doxorubicin 40.5 mg/m2 IV days 1 and 2 every 3 weeks for four cycles followed by cyclophosphamide 2.4 gm/m2 IV every 2 weeks for three cycles. Total dose and duration were identical, but the intensity of each drug was increased on A C. Both arms included granulocyte colony-stimulating factor support and prophylactic antibiotics. All but premenopausal women with receptor negative tumors received tamoxifen after chemotherapy.
                Between 1994 and 1997, 3,176 patients were randomly assigned. Arms were well balanced; 48% of eligible patients were node-negative and 48% were estrogen receptor-positive. No significant differences in OS or DFS were observed; 5-year estimates of OS (95% CI) were 88% (87% to 90%) on AC and 89% (87% to 91%) on A --> C. Grade 4 hematologic toxicity was greater on A --> C, but nonhematological grade 4 was similar.
                The overall result does not support superiority of dose-intense sequenced single agents. The greater toxicity of higher doses of single agents does not support their sequential use. To compare adjuvant dose-intensive epirubicin and cyclophosphamide chemotherapy administered with filgrastim and progenitor cell support (DI-EC) with standard-dose anthracycline-based chemotherapy (SD-CT) for patients with early-stage breast cancer and a high risk of relapse, defined as stage II disease with 10 or more positive axillary nodes; or an estrogen receptor-negative or stage III tumor with five or more positive axillary nodes.
                Three hundred forty-four patients were randomized after surgery to receive seven cycles of SD-CT over 22 weeks, or three cycles of DI-EC (epirubicin 200 mg/m2 plus cyclophosphamide 4 gm/m2 with filgrastim and progenitor cell support) over 6 weeks. All patients were assigned tamoxifen at the completion of chemotherapy. The primary end point was disease-free survival (DFS).
                After a median follow-up of 5.8 years (range, 3 to 8.4 years), 188 DFS events had occurred (DI-EC, 86 events; SD-CT, 102 events). The 5-year DFS was 52% for DI-EC and 43% for SD-CT, with hazard ratio of DI-EC compared with SD-CT of 0.77 (95% CI, 0.58 to 1.02; P = .07). The 5-year overall survival was 70% for DI-EC and 61% for SD-CT, with a hazard ratio of 0.79 (95% CI, 0.56 to 1.11; P = .17). There were eight cases (5%) of anthracycline-induced cardiomyopathy (two fatal) among those who received DI-EC. Women with hormone receptor-positive tumors benefited significantly from DI-EC.
                There was a trend in favor of DI-EC with respect to disease-free survival. A larger trial or meta-analysis will be required to reveal the true effect of dose-intensive therapy. Two groups of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia or non-Hodgkin lymphoma, treated with anthracyclines (ANT), were studied: group I, consisting of 10 patients, with coenzyme Q10 (CoQ) therapy; group II, consisting of 10 patients without CoQ therapy. The ANT cumulative dose was 240 +/- 20.0 mg/m2 in group I and 252.0 +/- 20.1 mg/m2 in group II. Echocardiographic study was performed at the beginning, at the cumulative dose of 180 mg/m2 and at the end of therapy with ANT. Percentage left ventricular fractional shortening (%LVFS) decreased from baseline (40.36 +/- 4.6) to end value (35.82 +/- 5.02) (P < 0.05) in group I; %LVFS decreased from baseline (39.89 +/- 4.37) to end value (33.43 +/- 3.46) (P < 0.002) in group II. Interventricular septum wall thickening decreased only in group II from baseline (46.10 +/- 10.1) to end therapy (27.00 +/- 18.54) (P < 0.01). Septum wall motion abnormalities were detected only in 2 patients of group II. These data demonstrate a protective effect of CoQ on cardiac function during therapy with ANT. Anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity has led to the adoption of empirical dose limits that may restrict continued use of anthracyclines among patients who might benefit. Dexrazoxane, a cardioprotective agent, has been shown to reduce the risk of anthracycline-associated cardiotoxicity when given from first dose of anthracycline. This study sought to confirm the benefit of dexrazoxane in patients at high risk of cardiotoxicity due to prior anthracycline use.
                A total of 164 female breast cancer patients, previously treated with anthracyclines, received anthracycline-based chemotherapy either with (n = 85) or without (n = 79) dexrazoxane for a maximum of six cycles.
                Compared with those receiving anthracycline alone, patients treated with dexrazoxane experienced significantly fewer cardiac events (39% versus 13%, P < 0.001) and a lower and less severe incidence of congestive heart failure (11% versus 1%, P < 0.05). Tumor response rate was unaffected by dexrazoxane therapy. The frequency of adverse events was similar between groups and there were no significant between-group differences in the number of dose modifications/interruptions.
                Dexrazoxane significantly reduced the occurrence and severity of anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity in patients at increased risk of cardiac dysfunction due to previous anthracycline treatment without compromising the antitumor efficacy of the chemotherapeutic regimen. To test potential protection by ICRF-187 against cumulative doxorubicin-dose-related cardiac toxicity, we conducted a randomized clinical trial in 150 women with advanced breast cancer.
                Patients received fluorouracil (5FU) 500 mg/m2, doxorubicin 50 mg/m2, and cyclophosphamide 500 mg/m2 every 21 days intravenously (IV) (control regimen, 74 patients), or the same regimen preceded by ICRF-187 1,000 mg/m2 IV (experimental regimen, 76 patients).
                We previously reported that ICRF-187 in this dose and schedule provides cardiac protection and does not substantially alter the noncardiac toxicity or antitumor efficacy of the control regimen. In this updated analysis of the entire patient cohort, we provide additional support for these findings and demonstrate that patients in the ICRF-187 group received more cycles (median, 11) and higher cumulative doses (median, 500 mg/m2) of doxorubicin than patients in the control group (median, nine cycles, P less than .01; and 441 mg/m2, P less than .05). Twenty-six patients in the ICRF-187 group received doxorubicin doses of at least 700 mg/m2, and among them, 11 patients received 1,000 mg/m2 or more. Only three patients in the control group received doxorubicin doses of 700 mg/m2; the maximum dose administered to one patient in this group was 950 mg/m2. ICRF-187 cardiac protection was demonstrated by difference in incidence of clinical congestive heart failure (CHF; two patients in the ICRF-187 group v 20 in the control group; P less than .0001) and by differences in resting left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) determined by multigated radionuclide (MUGA) scan from baselines and that required patient removal from study (five patients in the ICRF-187 group had a decrease in LVEF to less than 0.45 or a decrease from the baseline LVEF of 0.20 or more v 32 in the control group; P less than .000001). Among the 30 patients who had an assessable endomyocardial biopsy at cumulative doxorubicin 450 mg/m2, none of 16 in the ICRF-187 group and six of 14 in the control group had a score of 2 (P less than .05). ICRF-187 cardiac protection was observed in patients with and without prior chest-wall radiation or other risk factors for developing doxorubicin cardiac toxicity.
                By protecting against cumulative doxorubicin-induced cardiac toxicity, ICRF-187 permits significantly greater doses of doxorubicin to be administered to patients with greater safety. We conducted an open-label, randomized trial to determine whether ICRF-187 would reduce doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity in pediatric sarcoma patients.
                Thirty-eight patients were randomized to receive doxorubicin-containing chemotherapy (given as an intravenous bolus) with or without ICRF-187. Resting left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was monitored serially with multigated radionuclide angiography (MUGA) scan. The two groups were compared for incidence and degree of cardiotoxicity, response rates to four cycles of chemotherapy, event-free and overall survival, and incidence and severity of noncardiac toxicities.
                Eighteen ICRF-187-treated and 15 control patients were assessable for cardiac toxicity. ICRF-187-treated patients were less likely to develop subclinical cardiotoxicity (22% v 67%, P < .01), had a smaller decline in LVEF per 100 mg/m2 of doxorubicin (1.0 v 2.7 percentage points, P = .02), and received a higher median cumulative dose of doxorubicin (410 v 310 mg/m2, P < .05) than did control patients. Objective response rates were identical in the two groups, with no significant differences seen in event-free or overall survival. ICRF-187-treated patients had a significantly higher incidence of transient grade 1 serum transaminase elevations and a trend toward increased hematologic toxicity.
                ICRF-187 reduces the risk of developing short-term subclinical cardiotoxicity in pediatric sarcoma patients who receive up to 410 mg/m2 of doxorubicin. Response rates to chemotherapy, event-free and overall survival, and noncardiac toxicities appear to be unaffected by the use of ICRF-187. Additional clinical trials with larger numbers of patients are needed to determine if the short-term cardioprotection afforded by ICRF-187 will reduce the incidence of late cardiac complications in long-term survivors of childhood cancer.
An anthracycline infusion duration of six hours or longer reduces the risk of clinical heart failure and it seems to reduce the risk of subclinical cardiac damage. Since there is only a small amount of data for children and data obtained in adults cannot be extrapolated to children, different anthracycline infusion durations should be evaluated further in children.
No significant difference in the occurrence of clinical heart failure was identified in patients treated with a doxorubicin peak dose of less than 60 mg/m2 or 60 mg/m2 or more. For the other identified peak doses only one RCT was available, so no definitive conclusions can be made about the occurrence of cardiotoxicity. More high quality research is needed, both in children and adults and in leukaemias and solid tumours.