Anthracycline cardiotoxicity: current methods of diagnosis and possible role of 18F-FDG PET/CT as a new biomarker

Abstract

Highlights ∙ CTX related to chemotherapy is an important cause of heart failure in surviving cancer patients; ∙ Cardiomyocytes may increase their glycolytic metabolism under significant stress. This phenomenon has been observed in both experimental and clinical studies; ∙ PET/CT is a powerful noninvasive diagnostic technique that provides both anatomical and metabolic information; ∙ 18F-FDG is a glucose analog that is the most commonly used radiopharmaceutical in oncological PET/CT exams; ∙ The degree of myocardial 18F-FDG uptake may be a promising marker of the cardiomyocyte changes that precede cardiac dysfunction in the CTX cascade.

Keywords

• Cardiotoxicity
• 18F-FDG PET/CT
• Anthracyclines
• Nuclear medicine
• Early diagnosis
• Cardio-oncology