DOXORUBICIN CARDIOTOXICITY IN AFRICAN AMERICANS: PATIENTS AND METHODS

A retrospective survey of the Howard University Hospital cancer registry during 1997-2001 was conducted to identify all patients who underwent Adriamycin-based combination chemotherapy. Charts were reviewed to find evaluable patients who had records of the cumulative dose of doxorubicin and assessment of clinical cardiac status and echocardiogram both before therapy and at one- to four years post-therapy. Post-treatment cardiotoxicity was defined as CHF, or a measured left ventricular ejection fraction less than 45%. The fraction of patients who developed cardiotoxicity at Howard was compared with that from a retrospective study of 399 patients, whose exact age and racial composition were unknown. Statistical significance of the difference in incidence of cardiotoxicity was tested by chi-square analysis. Cases were stratified by cumulative dose of doxorubicin, and the fre quencies at each dosing level were compared between our cases and the cases mentioned in the previous study by Lefrak et al. cialis canadian pharmacy

Category: Cancer

Tags: African Americans, cardiotoxicity, doxorubicin