Thanks to the fantastic progress in cancer therapy options, there is a growing population of cancer survivors. This success has resulted in a need to focus much effort into improving the quality of life of this population. Cancer and cardiovascular disease share many common risk factors and have an interplay between them, with one condition mechanistically affecting the other and vice versa. Furthermore, widely prescribed cancer therapies have known toxic effects in the cardiovascular system. Anthracyclines are the paradigm of efficacious cancer therapy widely prescribed with a strong cardiotoxic potential. While some cancer therapies cardiovascular toxicities are transient, others are irreversible. There is a growing need to develop cardioprotective therapies that, when used in conjunction with cancer therapies, can prevent cardiovascular toxicity and thus improve long-term quality of life in survivors. The field has three main challenges: (i) identification of the ultimate mechanisms leading to cardiotoxicity to (ii) identify specific therapeutic targets, and (iii) more sensible diagnostic tools to early identify these conditions. In this review we will focus on the cardioprotective strategies tested and under investigation. We will focus this article into anthracycline cardiotoxicity since it is still the agent most widely prescribed, the one with higher toxic effects on the heart, and the most widely studied.

由于癌症治疗方案的巨大进步，癌症幸存者人数不断增加。这一成功导致需要集中精力改善这一人群的生活质量。癌症和心血管疾病有许多共同的危险因素，并且它们之间存在相互作用，其中一种疾病会机械地影响另一种疾病，反之亦然。此外，广泛使用的癌症疗法对心血管系统具有已知的毒性作用。蒽环类药物是有效的癌症治疗范例，被广泛使用，具有很强的心脏毒性潜力。虽然一些癌症疗法的心血管毒性是暂时的，但另一些则是不可逆转的。人们越来越需要开发心脏保护疗法，当与癌症疗法结合使用时，可以预防心血管毒性，从而改善幸存者的长期生活质量。该领域面临三个主要挑战：(i) 确定导致心脏毒性的最终机制，以 (ii) 确定特定的治疗靶点，以及 (iii) 更明智的诊断工具来及早识别这些病症。在这篇综述中，我们将重点关注已测试和正在研究的心脏保护策略。我们将本文重点讨论蒽环类药物的心脏毒性，因为它仍然是处方最广泛的药物，对心脏的毒性作用较高，也是研究最广泛的药物。