Safety and Treatment Efficacy of Systemic, Locoregional, and Nanoparticle Encapsulated Anthracycline Chemotherapy: Insights Into Cardiotoxicity. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2026 Jun;46(6):e319865
Date
04/02/2026Pubmed ID
41924873Pubmed Central ID
PMC13048292DOI
10.1161/ATVBAHA.125.319865Scopus ID
2-s2.0-105035117044 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)Abstract
Cancer survivors are at an increased risk for major adverse cardiovascular events and cardiovascular disease mortality compared with the general population. In fact, emerging evidence suggests that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality 10 years into survivorship for some cancer populations. While this heightened cardiovascular risk undoubtedly involves a variety of factors, antineoplastic therapies, such as anthracyclines, are known to contribute significantly to this pathology. As such, modalities that improve the localization of treatments to the tumor while simultaneously minimizing off-target effects on noncancerous cells are greatly needed. Approaches in which anthracyclines are injected directly into tumor-feeding arterioles (locoregional/intra-arterial administration) or are encapsulated in tumor-directed nanoparticles have gained prominence in certain cancers. Such therapies should direct cardiotoxic chemotherapy away from sites of potential toxicity while leaving the tumor exposed. However, current clinical findings on the efficacy and cardiovascular safety of these treatments remain inconclusive, and their use for many cancers is limited. This narrative review aims to highlight current clinical findings that have evaluated the safety and efficacy of locoregional and nanoparticle-mediated anthracycline administration as they compare with systemic delivery and identify avenues to be explored by future research.
Author List
Hammond ST, Brandt L, Kong AL, White SB, Lewandowski D, Beyer AMAuthors
Andreas M. Beyer PhD Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of WisconsinStephen T. Hammond Postdoctoral Researcher 3 in the Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Amanda L. Kong MS, MD Professor in the Surgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin
David Lewandowski MD Assistant Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Sarah B. White MS, MD Assistant Provost, Associate Dean, Professor in the Radiology department at Medical College of Wisconsin
MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AnimalsAnthracyclines
Antibiotics, Antineoplastic
Cardiotoxicity
Heart Diseases
Humans
Nanoparticles
Neoplasms
Risk Assessment
Risk Factors
Treatment Outcome
