The occurrence of intestinal polyps in people at high risk for developing colorectal cancer provides an opportunity to test the efficacy of chemoprevention agents. In this situation of treating otherwise healthy people, the potential for toxicity must be minimal. The small-molecule flexible heteroarotinoid (Flex-Het), called SHetA2, has chemoprevention activity in organotypic cultures in vitro ...

CLINICAL QUESTION Is intravenous lipid emulsion a safe and effective therapy for the reversal and treatment of local anesthetic toxicity? RESULTS Systematic reviews, human case reports, and experimental animal studies have demonstrated the efficacy of intravenous lipid emulsion therapy in successfully reversing cardiac arrhythmias, cardiac arrest, and cardiac collapse seen with severe systemi...

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are an excellent vertebrate model for studying heart development, regeneration and cardiotoxicity. Zebrafish embryos exposed during the temporal window of epicardium development to the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) agonist 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) exhibit severe heart malformations. TCDD exposure prevents both proepicardial organ (PE) and epicardium d...

Amiodarone is a commonly used anti-arrhythmic agent, with well-recognized chronic toxicity. Less well known is amiodarone's potential to cause acute lung damage, which can be severe or, occasionally, life-threatening. Lungs that have already been exposed to physical insults, such as the lungs of patients undergoing cardiac surgery, are particularly susceptible to acute pulmonary toxicity (APT)....

Melatonin, an indole produced in several organs but most notably in the pineal gland, has a variety of effects that influence cardiac pathophysiology. Herein, we summarize the findings that illustrate the ability of melatonin to attenuate the severity of hypertension, limit myocardial damage, improve the function of the ischemic-reperfused heart, protect the heart from the toxicity of anthracyc...

Anthracyclines are the mainstay of treatment of a variety of haematological malignancies and solid tumours. Unfortunately, the clinical use of these drugs is limited by cumulative, dose-related cardiotoxicity which may ultimately lead to a severe and irreversible form of cardiomyopathy. Thus, there is an increasing need for close cooperation among cardiologists, oncologists and haemato-oncologi...

Cocaine addiction is associated with devastating medical consequences, including cardiotoxicity and risk-conferring prolongation of the QT interval. Viral gene transfer of cocaine hydrolase engineered from butyrylcholinesterase offers therapeutic promise for treatment-seeking drug users. Although previous preclinical studies have demonstrated benefits of this strategy without signs of toxicity,...

The superior toxicity profile is one of the major reasons for the widespread use of gemcitabine in cancer treatment. Bone marrow suppression is the most common side effect, while non-hematological events are relatively infrequent. Cardiac toxicity is a rare complication and cardiac arrhythmia is even rarer. We report the case of a 67-year-old woman with metastatic breast cancer without a histor...

Cardiac toxicity of cancer therapies remains an important clinical problem, despite decades of investigation. The prevention, surveillance, and treatment of cardiac toxicity are areas of active research, stimulated by recent attention from the National Institutes of Health. This has brought new energy and novel methods to the table. For patients facing treatment of cancer, no one size fits all,...

blockbuster COX-2 inhibitor Vioxx (rofecoxib) as a result of an increased risk of heart attack in Vioxx users underscores the prominent role that cardiac toxicity continues to play in ensuring drug safety within the pharmaceutical industry. While the precise mechanism of Vioxx-induced cardiotoxicity is unclear, cardiac liabilities have surfaced recently for a surprising number of approved drugs...