Low Cardiotoxicity in Pediatric Sarcoma Patients Treated with Epirubicin

Strategic Insights -

Pediatric patients with sarcoma who received epirubicin as part of a study in Germany showed low levels of cardiotoxicity, according to researchers. The study, which included 172 patients between the ages of 2 and 18, found that the incidence of clinically manifest cardiomyopathy was 0% in patients treated with epirubicin, compared to 0.9% in those treated with doxorubicin. Echocardiography was used to analyze heart function, measuring left-ventricular fractional shortening (FS).

Key Takeaways:

  • The study examined 172 pediatric sarcoma patients (mean age at diagnosis: 8.3 years) treated with epirubicin (median cumulative dose: 450 mg/m^2) or doxorubicin (median cumulative dose: 240 mg/m^2) as part of the CWS-96 study.
  • Incidence of clinically manifest cardiomyopathy was 0% (0/60; 95% CI: 0-6.0%) in patients treated with epirubicin, and 0.9% (1/108; 95% CI: 0-5.1%) in patients treated with doxorubicin.
  • A further 3 patients showed subclinical cardiomyopathy, but there was no difference in FS between the two treatment arms.
  • Cardiotoxicity was low in the study, with the researchers concluding that for the short term, cardiotoxicity seems to be only a minor problem in patients treated with epirubicin as applied in this cohort.
  • The study was published in the Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology (Comparison of epirubicin and doxorubicin cardiotoxicity in children and adolescents treated within the German Cooperative Soft Tissue Sarcoma Study).
  • Researchers at the University Hospital for Children & Adolescents, including Dr. W. Stohr, conducted the study.

Statistics:

  • 172 patients were included in the study.
  • The median age at diagnosis was 8.3 years.
  • 60 patients received epirubicin, while 108 received doxorubicin.
  • The median follow-up was 27.7 months.
  • Incidence of clinically manifest cardiomyopathy was 0% (0/60; 95% CI: 0-6.0%) in patients treated with epirubicin, and 0.9% (1/108; 95% CI: 0-5.1%) in patients treated with doxorubicin.
  • 3 patients showed subclinical cardiomyopathy.

Sources:

  • Stohr, W., et al. "Comparison of epirubicin and doxorubicin cardiotoxicity in children and adolescents treated within the German Cooperative Soft Tissue Sarcoma Study (CWS)." Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology, vol. 132, no. 1, 2006, pp. 35-40.
  • Health & Medicine Week editors. "Low Cardiotoxicity in Pediatric Sarcoma Patients Treated with Epirubicin." Health & Medicine Week, 2006.
  • NewsRx.com. "Low Cardiotoxicity in Pediatric Sarcoma Patients Treated with Epirubicin." Health & Medicine Week via NewsRx.com, 2006.