Anthracyclines and HER2-targeted antibodies are very effective for the treatment of breast cancer, but their use is limited by cardiotoxicity. In this nested case-control study, we assessed the role of intermediary metabolism in 38 women with breast cancer treated with anthracyclines and trastuzumab. Using targeted mass spectrometry to measure 71 metabolites in the plasma, we identified changes in citric acid and aconitic acid that differentiated patients who developed cardiotoxicity from those who did not. In patients with cardiotoxicity, the magnitude of change in citric acid at three months correlated with the change in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and absolute LVEF at nine months. Patients with cardiotoxicity also demonstrated more pronounced changes in purine and pyrimidine metabolism. Early metabolic changes may therefore provide insight into the mechanisms associated with the development of chemotherapy-associated cardiotoxicity.
Keywords: Anthracyclines; Breast cancer; Cardiotoxicity; Chemotherapy; Citric acid; HER2; Heart failure; Metabolism.