[Adriamycin (doxorubicin)]

Anthracyclines have been in clinical practice since the 1960s and represent one of the most commonly used classes of anticancer drugs. Doxorubicin (adriamycin) is one of the first anthracyclines in clinical use, has a broad anti-tumor spectrum, and has been used against hematopoietic malignancies such as lymphoma, myeloma and leukemia, and solid tumors such as breast cancer, ovarian cancer and sarcomas. There are two chemotherapeutic regimens containing doxorubicin that have been established as the state of the art therapy against malignant lymphomas. One is ABVD therapy for Hodgkin's lymphoma, and the other is CHOP therapy for aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). In these regimens as well as the regimen for breast cancer, doxorubicin is delivered by bolus intravenous infusion for 30 minutes to one hour. The use of continuous infusion schedules of doxorubicin for 72 to 96 hours has been reported to reduce the incidence of cardiac toxicity somewhat, providing a pharmacokinetic basis for the hypothesis that high peak concentrations are associated with an increased incidence of cardiotoxicity. VAD regimen for myeloma, and EPOCH regimen for relapsed aggressive NHL have been reported and used. However, this approach is not widespread because of concern over compromising antitumor efficacy, unpredictable toxicities, and logistical issues. Continuous infusion schedules of doxorubicin might be reevaluated for the clinical benefit especially for patients with breast cancer treated by trastuzumab and doxorubicin, because trastuzumab was reported to enhance cardiac toxicity.