Anthracyclines are a group of chemotherapy drugs used very commonly in lymphomas. Doxorubicin (Adriamycin), Epirubicin and Mitoxantrone are some of the commonly used anthracyclines. It is well known that at high doses these drugs can cause heart damage, occasionally leading to congestive heart failure (CHF) months or years after chemotherapy.
Doxorubcin is the drug most commonly implicated in heart failure because it is widely used for lymphoma (being extremely effective) in many chemotherapy regimens including ABVD in Hodgkin's lymphoma and CHOP and R-CHOP chemotherapy in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). How does doxorubicin cause heart damage? What are the safe dose limits of this drug? How is the heart damage recognized and treated? Find out in
