| Abstract: |
Background Biomarkers of cardiac damages, such as troponin T (TnT) and the amino-terminal fragment of brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), may be useful as early predictors of cardiac dysfunction. The role of these biomarkers in patients receiving lapatinib and/or trastuzumab before anthracyclines is unknown. This study explores TnT and NT-proBNP as predictors of early cardiac toxicity in neoadjuvant breast cancer patients. Methods This sub-study of the NEOALTTO trial tested if changes in the levels of TnT and NT-proBNP occurred after 2 weeks of anti-HER2 therapy (lapatinib, trastuzumab or their combination) alone and/or after 18 weeks of anti-HER2 therapy plus weekly paclitaxel. Results 173 and 172 were tested at all three timepoints for NT-proBNP and TnT, respectively. The incidence of biomarker elevation was overall low at all timepoints for all the three treatment arms. A total of 13 CEs in 11 patients occurred. Biomarker elevations in patients with CEs were very rare; only one patient with subsequent CE had a NT-proBNP elevation at baseline and at week 2. Conclusion These results suggest that TnT and proBNP may not be useful as early predictors of cardiac toxicity in anthra-cycline-naïve patients receiving trastuzumab and/or lapatinib. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2017. |
