[Cardiotoxicity of anthracycline]

The anthracyclines are among the most active and useful anticancer agents, but they are also the most common chemotherapeutics associated with the development of congestive heart failure. Twenty seven to sixty percent of patients with anthracycline-induced cardiomyopathy die of congestive cardiac failure. The paper presents the pathomechanisms of anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity and perspectives on prevention of congestive heart failure resulting from anthracycline chemo-therapy.