Anthracyclines, including
doxorubicin,
epirubicin,
daunorubicin and
aclarubicin, are widely used as chemotherapeutic agents in the treatment of hematologic and solid
tumor, including acute
leukemia,
lymphoma,
breast cancer,
gastric cancer,
soft tissue sarcomas and
ovarian cancer. In the
cancer treatment,
anthracyclines also can be combined with other
chemotherapies and molecular-targeted drugs. The combination of
anthracyclines with other
therapies is usually the first-line treatment.
Anthracyclines are effective and potent agents with a broad antitumor spectrum, but may cause adverse reactions, including
hair loss, myelotoxicity, as well as
cardiotoxicity. We used hematopoietic stimulating factors to control the myelotoxicity, such as
G-CSF, EPO and TPO. However, the
cardiotoxicity is the most serious side effect of
anthracyclines. Clinical research and practical observations indicated that the
cardiotoxicity of
anthracyclines is commonly progressive and irreversible. Especially to those patients who have the first time use of
anthracyclines, the damage is common. Therefore, early detection and prevention of
anthracyclines induced
cardiotoxicity are particularly important and has already aroused more attention in clinic. By literature review, we reviewed the research progress of
cardioprotective agents for prevention of
anthracycline cardiotoxicity.