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Getting the latest healthcare news for you
Getting the latest healthcare news for you
Despite well-known cardiac risks, fewer than 2.5% of adults receiving anthracycline chemotherapy for blood cancers get any form of heart protection, a new US study finds. Strategies like dexrazoxane and liposomal anthracyclines are standard in pediatric AML but remain nearly absent in adult practice. Crucially, neither approach was linked to worse survival outcomes.
A large US cohort study reveals a striking gap in cardiac care for adults with hematologic cancers: despite receiving high-dose anthracycline chemotherapy — a treatment known to damage the heart — fewer than 2.5% of patients are given any cardioprotective strategy. The study, published in JAMA Network Open, analyzed over 13,000 adults treated for AML, DLBCL, follicular lymphoma, or mantle cell lymphoma between 2014 and 2024.
Two proven heart-protective approaches exist — liposomal anthracycline formulations and IV dexrazoxane — and dexrazoxane is already used in nearly all pediatric AML cases. Yet in adults, uptake is almost nonexistent. Researchers found that some high-risk DLBCL patients were switched to non-anthracycline regimens entirely rather than being offered cardioprotection, suggesting clinicians may be working around the issue rather than addressing it directly.
By the Numbers
Why it matters: Cardiotoxicity is a serious, potentially life-altering side effect of anthracycline therapy. The near-total absence of heart protection in adult blood cancer patients — despite available, effective options — points to an urgent need for prospective randomized trials to build the evidence base and drive meaningful change in clinical practice.
