Anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity, a pathophysiology based approach for early detection and protective strategies

In this thesis the development of a pathophysiology-based method for the early evaluation of anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity was described. We evaluated a comprehensive array of biomarkers, representing several aspects of anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity, including cardiac injury and remodeling, free radical overload and the inflammation accompanying the injury. It was shown that predominantly the markers of cardiac injury may be suitable for the early detection of anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity. In the second part of this thesis we evaluated a new, free-radical scavenging compound against anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity using this approach. The failure of this compound to show efficacy against anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity in our model suggests that a broader approach toward the mechanism of anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity is necessary