Cisplatin and Doxorubicin Induce Distinct Mechanisms of Ovarian Follicle Loss; Imatinib Provides Selective Protection Only against Cisplatin

Chemotherapy treatment in premenopausal women has been linked to ovarian follicle loss and premature ovarian failure; the exact mechanism by which this occurs is uncertain. Here, two commonly used chemotherapeutic agents (cisplatin and doxorubicin) were added to a mouse ovary culture system, to compare the sequence of events that leads to germ cell loss. The ability of imatinib mesylate to protect the ovary against cisplatin or doxorubicin-induced ovarian damage was also examined.Newborn mouse ovaries were cultured for a total of six days, exposed to a chemotherapeutic agent on the second day: this allowed for the examination of the earliest stages of follicle development. Cleaved PARP and TUNEL were used to assess apoptosis following drug treatment. Imatinib was added to cultures with cisplatin and doxorubicin to determine any protective effect.Histological analysis of ovaries treated with cisplatin showed oocyte-specific damage; in comparison doxorubicin preferentially caused damage to the granulosa cells. Cleaved PARP expression significantly increased for cisplatin (16 fold, p<0.001) and doxorubicin (3 fold, p<0.01). TUNEL staining gave little evidence of primordial follicle damage with either drug. Imatinib had a significant protective effect against cisplatin-induced follicle damage (p<0.01) but not against doxorubicin treatment.Cisplatin and doxorubicin both induced ovarian damage, but in a markedly different pattern, with imatinib protecting the ovary against damage by cisplatin but not doxorubicin. Any treatment designed to block the effects of chemotherapeutic agents on the ovary may need to be specific to the drug(s) the patient is exposed to

Body surface area and baseline blood pressure predict subclinical anthracycline cardiotoxicity in women treated for early breast cancer.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Anthracyclines are highly effective chemotherapeutic agents which may cause long-term cardiac damage (chronic anthracycline cardiotoxicity) and heart failure. The pathogenesis of anthracycline cardiotoxicity remains incompletely understood and individual susceptibility difficult to predict. We sought clinical features which might contribute to improved risk assessment. METHODS: Subjects were women with early breast cancer, free of pre-existing cardiac disease. Left ventricular ejection fraction was measured using cardiovascular magnetic resonance before and >12 months after anthracycline-based chemotherapy (>3 months post-Trastuzumab). Variables associated with subclinical cardiotoxicity (defined as a fall in left ventricular ejection fraction of ≥5%) were identified by logistic regression. RESULTS: One hundred and sixty-five women (mean age 48.3 years at enrollment) completed the study 21.7 months [IQR 18.0-26.8] after starting chemotherapy. All received anthracyclines (98.8% epirubicin, cumulative dose 400 [300-450] mg/m2); 18% Trastuzumab. Baseline blood pressure was elevated (≥140/90mmHg, mean 147.3/86.1mmHg) in 18 subjects. Thirty-four subjects (20.7%) were identified with subclinical cardiotoxicity, independent predictors of which were the number of anthracycline cycles (odds ratio, OR 1.64 [1.17-2.30] per cycle), blood pressure ≥140/90mmHg (OR 5.36 [1.73-17.61]), body surface area (OR 2.08 [1.36-3.20] per standard deviation (0.16m2) increase), and Trastuzumab therapy (OR 3.35 [1.18-9.51]). The resultant predictive-model had an area under the receiver operating characteristics curve of 0.78 [0.70-0.86]. CONCLUSIONS: We found subclinical cardiotoxicity to be common even within this low risk cohort. Risk of cardiotoxicity was associated with modestly elevated baseline blood pressure-indicating that close attention should be paid to blood pressure in patients considered for anthracycline based chemotherapy. The association with higher body surface area suggests that indexing of anthracycline doses to surface area may not be appropriate for all, and points to the need for additional research in this area

Effect of obesity on toxicity in women treated with adjuvant chemotherapy for early-stage breast cancer: a systematic review

The purpose of this study is to provide more definite evidence regarding the role of dose modification of chemotherapy in obese women with breast cancer by systematically reviewing current literature regarding chemotherapy-induced toxicity rates in obese and non-obese women with early-stage breast cancer. A systematic search of Pubmed and EMBASE was conducted to identify original studies investigating chemotherapy-induced toxicity in obese women receiving adjuvant chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer. Ten studies were identified. We noted low rates of adjustment for confounders such as prophylactic hematopoietic growth factor use and empirical dose reductions. Seven studies found reduced toxicity in obese compared to non-obese women. Of four studies, where dose capping was precluded or statistically adjusted for, three found reduced toxicity in obese women. These outcomes include less febrile neutropenia (body mass index (BMI) >23.6; odds ratio (OR) 4.4; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.65-12.01), fewer hospital admissions (BMI >35; OR 0.61, 95 % CI 0.38-0.97), and fewer neutropenic events (BMI >25; OR 0.49; 95 % CI 0.37-0.66). Only a single study reported higher rates of toxicity in obese women, but this study had significant methodological issues. As a conclusion, we observed that obese patients tolerate chemotherapy better than lean patients. However, this may be confounded by poorly specified dose capping practices and the use of hematopoietic growth factors. Further research should focus on improved documentation of body size, of dose, and of use of growth factors, and analysis of how these affect recurrence rates, toxicity, and survival

The miR-106b similar to 25 cluster promotes bypass of doxorubicin-induced senescence and increase in motility and invasion by targeting the E-cadherin transcriptional activator EP300

Resistance to chemotherapeutic treatment, which is indirectly responsible for many cancer deaths, is normally associated with an aggressive phenotype including increased cell motility and acquisition of invasive properties. Here we describe how breast cancer cells overcome doxorubicin-induced senescence and become drug resistant by overexpression of the microRNA (miR)-106b∼25 cluster. Although all three miRs in the cluster contribute to the generation of doxorubicin resistance, miR-25 is the major contributor to this phenotype. All three miRs in this cluster target EP300, a transcriptional activator of E-cadherin, resulting in cells acquiring a phenotype characteristic of cells undergoing epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), including an increase in both cell motility and invasion, as well as the ability to proliferate after treatment with doxorubicin. These findings provide a novel drug resistance/EMT regulatory pathway controlled by the miR-106b∼25 cluster by targeting a transcriptional activator of E-cadherin