Skip to main content

Table 3 Safety and Efficacy of Dexrazoxane in Clinical Studies

From: Upfront dexrazoxane for the reduction of anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity in adults with preexisting cardiomyopathy and cancer: a consecutive case series

First Author and Year of Publication

Population

Anthracycline Agent

Number of Subjects

Median Age (years)

Baseline CV Risk Factors

Dexrazoxane Administration Timing

Cardiotoxicity in Dexrazoxane Arm

Cardiotoxicity in Control Arm

Reduced anti-tumor efficacy

Incidence of Secondary Malignancy

Swain SM et al. 1997 [6] Prospective RCT, Dex vs. Placebo

Adult, Advanced breast cancer

Doxorubicin

534

58 (study 088001) 56 (study 088006)

No difference between two groups

From the beginning of therapy

15% (study 088001) 14% (study 088006)

31% (study 088001) 31% (study 088006)

Lower response rate (14% difference) but no effect on overall time to progression or survival (study 088001)

Not evaluated

Swain SM et al. 1997 [7] Prospective RCT, Dex vs. Placebo

Adult, Advanced breast cancer

Doxorubicin

201

57

No difference between two groups

After a cumulative doxorubicin dose of 300 mg/m2

3%

22%

No effect

Not evaluated

Rabinovich A et al. 2012 [34] Retrospective, comparing cancer outcomes in Dex vs. No-Dex

Adult, NHL

Doxorubicin

193

70.35

Dex group had more CV risk factors

61.7% of the patients started dexrazoxane in the first or second chemotherapy cycle

Not evaluated

Not evaluated

No effect

Not evaluated

Limat S et al. 2014 [35] Retrospective, comparing two groups based on time of treatment (1994–2000 and 2001–2005)

Adult, NHL

Doxorubicin

180

58

No difference between two groups

From the beginning of therapy (Note: Only 45% patients in 2001–05 group received Dex)

17%

1.5%

Not evaluated

Not evaluated

Vachhani P et al. 2017 [36]

Retrospective, consecutive patients with AML treated with Dex, baseline LVEF 40–50%

Adult, AML

Daunorubicin or Mitoxantrone

6

61.5

No control group

50% (3/6) had Dex from the beginning of therapy. The rest 3 had Dex after median of 340 mg/m2 anthracycline

16.67% (1/6 patients)

No control arm

Not evaluated

Not evaluated

Lopez M et al. 1998 [38] Prospective RCT, Dex vs. No Dex

Adult, Advanced breast cancer or soft tissue sarcoma

Epirubicin

Breast cancer – 95 Sarcoma - 34

Breast cancer −58 Sarcoma - 51

Not mentioned in the study. Dose of epirubicin was higher in Dex arm

From the beginning of therapy

4.1%

20.8%

No effect

Not evaluated

Schuler MK et al. 2016 [39] Retrospective, Dex given for one of the following reasons:

1. Re-challenge,

2. Reaching the cumulative anthracycline dose and

3. Preexisting heart failure

Adult, Sarcoma

Doxorubicin

32

54

No control group

27/32 patients received Dex after a median dose of 450 mg/m2 of doxorubicin 5/32 patients received Dex from the beginning of therapy (Given baseline elevated cardiac risk – CHF, CAD or arrhythmia)

7%

No control arm

Not evaluated

Not evaluated

Lipshultz SE et al. 2004 [3] Prospective RCT, Dex vs. No Dex

Children, Previously untreated high-risk ALL

Doxorubicin

206

7.5

Not mentioned in the study but median cumulative dose of doxorubicin was same in both groups

From the beginning of therapy

21% (elevated cTnT) 10% (Extremely elevated cTnT level)

50% (elevated cTnT 32% (Extremely elevated cTnT level)

No effect

Not evaluated

Chow EJ at al. 2015 [40] Long term follow-up (median 12.6 years) of 3 prospective RCT patients to evaluate effect of Dex on long-term survival

Children, (T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia/ lymphoma, intermediate/ high-risk Hodgkin lymphoma, and low-risk Hodgkin lymphoma)

Doxorubicin

1008

12.6

Not mentioned in the study but median cumulative dose of doxorubicin was same in both groups in each trial

From the beginning of therapy

Not reported in the study but no difference in CV mortality

Not reported in the study but no difference in CV mortality

No effect

No effect

Asselin BL et al. 2016 [41] Prospective RCT, Dex vs. No Dex

Children, T-ALL or L-NHL

Doxorubicin

537

9.8

Not mentioned in the study but median cumulative dose of doxorubicin was same in both groups

From the beginning of therapy

Acute cardiotoxicity: 1 patient Elevated cTnT: 2.4% z scores for LV fractional shortening (3 years): −0.05 (normal)

Acute cardiotoxicity: 4 patient Elevated cTnT: 8.8% z scores for LV fractional shortening (3 years): − 0.77 (abnormal)

No effect

No effect

Tebbi CK et al. 2007 [8] Prospective RCT, Dex vs. No Dex

Children, Hodgkin’s disease treated with ABVE or dose-intensified ABVE-PC followed by low-dose radiation

Doxorubicin

478

12.9

Not reported

From the beginning of therapy

Not reported

Not reported

No effect

8/10 patients with secondary malignancy in Dex arm. Standardized incidence rate was 41.86 with Dex versus 10.08 without Dex (P = 0.0231)

Shaikh F et al. 2016 [9] Meta-analysis of 17 studies (5 RCT and 12 NRSs to evaluate effects of Dex for cardioprotection and secondary malignancy

Children, Variety of hematological and solid malignancies

Multiple agents (predominantly doxorubicin)

4639

Variable among studies (< 18)

Not reported

All but one NRS administered Dex from the beginning of anthracycline therapy

Dex reduced clinical or subclinical cardiotoxicity among RCTs (RR = 0.29, P = .003, NNT = 41) and NRSs (RR = 0.43, P < .001, NNT = 7)

No control arm

No effect

RCT: Dex: 2.7% No Dex: 1.1% (RR = 2.37, P = .06). Two RCTs that used concurrent etoposide reported an increased risk of AML, while one that used cranial radiation reported an increased risk of brain tumors. NRSs: No effect

Kim H et al. 2018 [42] Retrospective, Dex vs. No Dex

Children, Variety of hematological and solid malignancies

Multiple agents (predominantly doxorubicin)

1453

6

Not reported but anthracycline dose was higher in Dex arm (210 mg/m2 in Dex arm vs. 150 mg/m2 in No Dex arm, p < 0.01)

From the beginning of therapy

Cardiac event-free survival rate of patients with more than 400 mg/m2 of anthracyclines was significantly higher in Dex group

No control arm

Not evaluated

No effect

Getz KD et al. 2018 [43] Prospective, Comparing various treatments in children with AML, Dex given as per descrition of treating physician

Children, AML

Daunorubicin

1014 (only 96 had Dex)

Not reported in abstract

Not reported

From the beginning of therapy

Less declines in EF (∆EF: 0 to −4.0) Early LVSD – 6.3%

More significant decline in EF (∆EF: 0 to −6.4; p < 0.05) Early LVSD – 19.2% (p = 0.005)

Dex arm had non-significantly higher 3-year OS (71.9% vs 63.0%, p = 0.093) and EFS (54.4% vs 44.2%, p = 0.070)

Not evaluated

  1. ABVE Adriamycin (doxorubicin), bleomycin, vincristine, etoposide, ABVE-PC Adriamycin (doxorubicin), bleomycin, vincristine, etoposide, prednisone, and cyclophosphamide, AML acute myeloid leukemia, ALL acute lymphoblastic leukemia, cTn cardiac troponin, CV cardiovascular, Dex dexrazoxane, NHL non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, LVEF left ventricular ejection fraction, LVSD left ventricular systolic dyscuntion, NRS non-randomized study, RCT randomized control trial