What are the mechanisms, incidence, clinical presentation, and management strategies for 5-fluorouracil induced cardiotoxicity?
5-fluorouracil is associated with significant cardiotoxicity, necessitating careful cardiac risk stratification and monitoring during and after administration.
5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is a key chemotherapeutic agent in the treatment of many gastrointestinal tract adenocarcinomas. Despite its proven therapeutic efficacy, 5-FU also possesses several undesired cardiac toxicities, including coronary vasospasm, coronary thrombosis, cardiomyopathy, and sudden cardiac death. This review addresses the incidence, mechanisms of action, clinical presentation, risk stratification, and management of 5-FU associated cardiotoxicity; it also highlights the importance of careful pre-administration cardiac risk stratification and close monitoring during and after drug administration.
Sorrentino et al. (Sat,) studied this question.