What is anthracylines?

2006-10-11T22:18:00.000-07:00

The definations are given as below:

Answers.com: A group of chemotherapy medicines that are used to treat cancer. They have similar characteristics and are known for their ability to cause heart damage. The drugs included as anthracyclines are:

Doxorubicin

Daunorubicin

Idarubicin

Epirubicin

MedicineNet.com: A member of a family of chemotherapy drugs that are also antibiotics. The anthracyclines act to prevent cell division by disrupting the structure of the DNA and terminate its function. They do so in two ways: (1) they intercalate into the base pairs in the DNA minor grooves; and (2) they cause free radical damage of the ribose in the DNA. The anthracyclines are frequently used in leukemia therapy. The anthracyclines include daunorubicin (Cerubidine), doxorubicin (Adriamycin, Rubex), epirubicin (Ellence, Pharmorubicin), and idarubicin (Idamycin).

Wikepedia: Anthracyclines are a class of chemotherapeutic agents based upon daunosamine and tetra-hydro-naphthacene-dione. These compounds are used to treat a wide range of cancers, including (but not limited to) leukemias, lymphomas, and breast, uterine, ovarian, and lung cancers. Available agents include:

Daunorubicin

Daunorubicin (liposomal)

Doxorubicin

Doxorubicin (liposomal)

Epirubicin

Idarubicin

Mitoxantrone

Cardiotoxicity: As well as many of the expected adverse reactions of chemotherapeutic agents, anthracyclines are notorious for causing cardiotoxicity. This cardiotoxicity may be caused by many factors, which may include interference with the ryanodine receptors of the sarcoplasmic reticulum in the heart muscle cells, free radical formation in the heart or from buildup of metabolic products of the anthracycline in the heart. The cardioxicity often presents as EKG changes and arrhythmias, or as a cardiomyopathy leading to congestive heart failure (sometimes presenting many years after treatment). This cardiotoxicity is related to a patient's cumulative lifetime dose. A patient's lifetime dose is calculated during treatment, and anthracycline treatment is usually stopped (or at least re-evaluated by the oncologist) upon reaching the maximum cumulative dose of the particular anthracycline.