Baseline blood pressure and development of cardiotoxicity in patients treated with anthracyclines: A systematic review

Aims: Anthracyclines, a mainstay of cancer treatment, are associated with significant life-threatening cardiotoxicity. As cancer survivorship improves, there is a growing need to identify patients most at risk and strategies to mitigate anthracycline-associated cardiotoxicity. Elevated baseline blood pressure (bBP) is a possible risk factor for cardiotoxicity. The aim of this systematic review was to summarise the literature and evaluate relationships between bBP and anthracycline-associated cardiotoxicity. Methods and results: Systematic searches were conducted, limited to English language but without restrictions on study type or country of origin. All studies fulfilled the PRISMA statement and relevant studies reviewed and narratively synthesised. A total of 1330 papers were screened, with 12 included in the qualitative synthesis. Eight papers indicated elevated bBP was associated with significantly higher risk of developing cardiotoxicity. Four papers noted significant relationships between left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) decline and elevated bBP. Of the four papers that failed to show an association, one noted increased risk of developing chronic heart failure. A relationship between baseline diastolic and systolic BP and anthracycline-associated cardiotoxicity is also noted. Conclusions: This study indicates adult patients with elevated bBP have increased vulnerability to anthracycline-associated cardiotoxicity, with those with pre-hypertension or raised systolic versus diastolic pressure potentially an overlooked population. Recommendations for inclusion of bBP, incorporating individual systolic versus diastolic pressures, in cardio-oncology risk prediction models to guide clinical decision-making are thus warranted.