Totect: a new agent for treating anthracycline extravasation

Anthracycline chemotherapy agents bind to DNA and cause cell death when they extravasate into healthy tissue. Although many approaches to managing extravasations have been studied and reported, data from two prospective clinical trials suggest that Totect (dexrazoxane for injection, TopoTarget USA, Inc.) is an effective anthracycline extravasation treatment. Only 1 of 54 patients with doxorubicin or epirubicin biopsy-confirmed extravasations treated with Totect developed tissue necrosis. Because nurses are on the forefront of extravasation prevention and management, they need to be knowledgeable about this new agent and how it is administered.