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Management of QT Prolongation Induced by Anticancer Drugs

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Cardiovascular Complications in Cancer Therapy

Part of the book series: Current Clinical Pathology ((CCPATH))

Abstract

Recent advances in the field of cancer therapy have significantly improved the prognosis of oncologic patients; however, side effects associated with antineoplastic treatment remain the main cause of the high mortality of cancer survivors. The most serious adverse effect of anticancer therapy is cardiovascular toxicity, i.e. QT prolongation, arrhythmias, myocardial ischemia, stroke, hypertension, thromboembolism, left ventricular dysfunction, and heart failure, which can occur even in patients undergoing targeted therapy. In cases of QT prolongation, which is favoured by electrolyte abnormalities, low levels of serum potassium and antineoplastic drugs, suspension of the antineoplastic treatment and correction of the electrolyte abnormalities (hypokalaemia, hypomagnesaemia, hypocalcaemia) can help to restore normal conditions. Thereafter, the patient’s cardiac functions should be monitored. QT prolongation can also cause potentially fatal cardiac arrhythmias and is treated with intravenous magnesium sulphate after electrical cardioversion.

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Acknowledgement

The authors thank Jean Ann Gilder (Scientific Communication srl., Naples, Italy) for editing the text.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Cardiology, Istituto Nazionale Tumori - IRCCS - Fondazione G. Pascale, Naples, Italy

    Nicola Maurea, Rolando Paciello & Carmela Coppola

  2. VIB Nanobody Core, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

    Rolando Paciello

  3. Department of Cardiology, Cardio-Oncology Clinic, Heart Failure Unit, Attikon University Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Dimitrios Farmakis

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  1. Nicola Maurea
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  2. Rolando Paciello
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  3. Carmela Coppola
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  4. Dimitrios Farmakis
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nicola Maurea .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgical, Oncological and Oral Sciences, Section of Medical Oncology, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Antonio Russo

  2. University of Palermo, School of Medicine, Palermo, Italy

    Giuseppina Novo

  3. Department of Cardiology, University of Liège, Liege, Belgium

    Patrizio Lancellotti

  4. Temple University College of Science and Technology, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Antonio Giordano

  5. Cardiology Department, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    Fausto J. Pinto

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Maurea, N., Paciello, R., Coppola, C., Farmakis, D. (2019). Management of QT Prolongation Induced by Anticancer Drugs. In: Russo, A., Novo, G., Lancellotti, P., Giordano, A., Pinto, F. (eds) Cardiovascular Complications in Cancer Therapy. Current Clinical Pathology. Humana Press, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93402-0_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93402-0_13

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