Short-Term, Cycle-Synchronized Adjunctive Therapy With Crocus Total Glucosides Tablets for Cardiac Protection Against...

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Oncology
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Chemotherapy poses a risk of cardiotoxicity, impacting cardiac function in cancer patients.
• Clinical data on cycle-synchronized interventions to mitigate chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity are limited.
• Crocin, derived from saffron, has demonstrated potential cardioprotective effects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of crocus total glucosides tablets (CTGT) in preventing cancer therapy-related cardiac dysfunction (CTRCD) in breast cancer patients.
• To assess the impact of CTGT administered synchronously with chemotherapy on cardiac function parameters.

Main Methods:

• A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 120 breast cancer patients.
• Patients received either CTGT or placebo for 8 days per cycle, starting one day before chemotherapy.
• Primary endpoints included 6-month changes in left ventricular global longitudinal strain (ΔLVGLS%) and left ventricular ejection fraction (ΔLVEF).

Main Results:

• CTGT significantly attenuated the 6-month ΔLVGLS% compared to placebo (p=0.009).
• No significant difference was observed in ΔLVEF between the CTGT and placebo groups at 6 months (p=0.220).
• CTGT reduced the proportion of patients with ΔLVGLS% > 15% (18.3% vs 40.0%, p=0.009) and the overall incidence of CTRCD (21.7% vs 46.7%, p=0.004).

Conclusions:

• An 8-day, cycle-synchronized CTGT regimen demonstrates cardioprotective effects during breast cancer chemotherapy.
• CTGT effectively attenuates left ventricular global longitudinal strain decline and reduces the incidence of CTRCD.
• This intervention offers a promising strategy to mitigate cardiac damage associated with cancer therapy.