| Agent | Main oncologic / hematologic indications | Type of cardiotoxicity | Estimated risk |
| Doxorubicin (Adriamycin®, Caelyx® (pegylated liposomal)) Daunorubicin Epirubicin Idarubicin | Solid tumors: Hematologic malignancies: |
| Symptomatic CTRCD:
Asymptomatic CTRCD:
|
| Mitoxantrone | Hematologic malignancies: Solid tumors: Non-oncologic indications: |
|
|
Proposed Surveillance (ESC guidelines):
Of note: NTproBNP is not reimbursed in Belgium
Anthracycline equivalent dosis calculator: https://www.cancercalc.com/anthracycline.php
References
Alkylating agents
| Agents | Main oncologic / hematologic indications | Type of Cardiotoxicity | Approximate risk & notes |
| Cyclophosphamide, Ifosfamide | Hematologic indications:
Solid tumors:
• bone and soft-tissue sarcomas. | Acute/subacute CTR-CVT:
• Cardiomyopathy / heart failure | High-dose regimens (>120–150 mg/kg): cardiotoxicity ~8–20% (adults), ~5% (children). HF: reported <5% up to 10–29%. Onset typically 48 h to 10 days after exposure. |
| Cisplatin | Testicular, head & neck, lung, bladder, ovarian, and GI cancers (esophageal, gastric). |
| Considered low in monotherapy, higher (1-6%) when combined with other cardiotoxic agents (e.g. 5-FU). |
| Busulfan, Carmustine, Mitomycin, Melphalan | Hematologic indications:
Solid tumors: | Often in high-dose settings for stem cell transplantation:
• Pericardial effusion | Overall cardiac toxicity ~1–5% in transplant settings; data mainly from case series. |
Surveillance:
Antimicrotubule Agents – Taxanes and Vinca Alkaloids
| Agents | Main indications | Type of Cardiotoxicity | Approximate risk |
| Taxanes Paclitaxel, Docetaxel, Cabazitaxel | Breast, ovarian, lung, prostate, head & neck, gastric and esophageal cancers. |
|
Bradycardia: ~5–30% (often asymptomatic). Arrhythmias: <5%. |
| Vinca alkaloids Vincristine, Vinblastine | ALL, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphomas, multiple myeloma, pediatric solid tumors. | Rarely myocardial ischemia/infarction, arrhythmias, or hypertension. | Low cardiotoxicity risk: Cardiac events <1–2%. |
Surveillance:
Other Anticancer Agents
| Agents / Class | Main indications | Type of Cardiotoxicity | Approximate risk & notes |
| Arsenic trioxide | Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). | QT prolongation → torsades de pointes | QTc >470 ms: 20–30%. QTc >500 ms: 10–15%. TdP very rare (<1%) with monitoring. |
| Bleomycin | Hodgkin lymphoma, testicular and germ-cell tumors. | Rare myocardial ischemia, Raynaud phenomenon | <1–2% in preexisting cardiovascular disease or with combination therapy. |
| Interferon-α | Myeloproliferative neoplasms, hairy cell leukemia; historical use in CML, melanoma, RCC. | Arrhythmias, cardiomyopathy, heart failure, ischemia, hypertension | Cardiac events 5–15%; Heart failure <5%. |
| Tretinoin (ATRA) | APL (with arsenic or chemotherapy). | Not common, but can contribute to “differentiation syndrome” which may involve heart failure and pericardial effusion. | Differentiation syndrome with cardiac manifestations <5%. |
| Amsacrine | Relapsed/refractory AML. | Arrhythmias, QT prolongation; rare HF | Arrhythmias 5–10%; Heart failure <1%. |
| HDAC inhibitors Romidepsin, Vorinostat | Cutaneous and peripheral T-cell lymphomas. | QT prolongation, arrhythmias | QT prolongation: 10–20% (romipdesin) QTc >500 ms: ~1–5%. |
| Somatostatin analogs Lanreotide, Octreotide | Neuroendocrine tumors; hormonal symptom control. | Bradycardia (usually asymptomatic) | Bradycardia 5–15%, <1–2% clinically significant. |
Surveillance:
References
| Drug class / Agent | Main oncologic indications | ESC-aligned cardiotoxicity profile | Estimated risk |
| Anti-PD-1 / Anti-PD-L1 Nivolumab (Opdivo®) Pembrolizumab (Keytruda®) Atezolizumab (Tecentriq®) Durvalumab (Imfinzi®) Cemiplimab (Libtayo®) Avelumab (Bavencio®) Dostarlimab (Jemperli®) | Broad spectrum of solid tumours, including: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), melanoma, renal cell carcinoma, urothelial carcinoma, head and neck cancers, MSI-H / dMMR colorectal and other GI cancers; hepatocellular carcinoma, cervical and endometrial cancer, cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (Indication depends on tumour type and PD-1/PD-L1 status.) | Immune-mediated CTR-CVT:
|
|
| Anti-CTLA-4 Ipilimumab (Yervoy®), Tremelimumab (Imjudo®) | Melanoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, renal cell carcinoma, selected GI and other solid tumors, often in combination with anti-PD-1 therapy. | ||
| Anti-LAG-3 Relatlimab (Opdualag® — fixed-dose combination with nivolumab) | Melanoma, typically in combination with nivolumab. |
Surveillance:
Consider multidisciplinary discussion via BSMO BITOX Immunomanager submission
https://bsmo.be/multidiscplin-immunotox-meeting/
References
BCR-ABL Inhibitors
| Drug class / agents | Main oncologic / hematologic indications | Type of cardiotoxicity | Approximate risk (agent-specific where relevant) |
| BCR-ABL inhibitors Imatinib (Glivec®) Dasatinib (Sprycel®) Nilotinib (Tasigna®) Ponatinib (Iclusig®) Bosutinib (Bosulif®) | Hematologic malignancies:
|
|
LV dysfunction / CHF:
|
BCR-ABL inhibitors related cardiovascular toxicities
Proposed Surveillance (ESC guidelines):
References
BTK Inhibitors
| Drug class / agents | Main hematologic indications | Type of cardiotoxicity | Approximate risk (agent-specific where relevant) |
| BTK inhibitors Ibrutinib (Imbruvica®) Acalabrutinib (Calquence®) Zanubrutinib (Brukinsa®) | B-cell malignancies:
|
|
|
Bleeding is very common, particularly with ibrutinib (up to ~55%), due to off-target antiplatelet effects. Individualized risk–benefit assessment is required in patients needing antiplatelet or anticoagulant therapy, especially dual antiplatelet therapy.
Proposed Surveillance (ESC guidelines) :
References
Indications:
| Main cardiovascular complications | Key clinical considerations | |
| Pre-HSCT (baseline assessment) |
| |
| Early phase (<100 days post-HSCT) |
|
|
| Intermediate phase (3–12 months) |
|
|
| Late phase (>1 year post-HSCT) |
|
|
| GVHD-related complications (all phases) | Acute GVHD: myocarditis, heart failure, arrhythmias, conduction disorders, pericardial effusion, thrombosis. Chronic GVHD: |
|
Footnote for figure: BNP, B-type natriuretic peptide; BP, blood pressure; CPET, cardiopulmonary exercise testing; CV, cardiovascular; CVD, CV disease; CVRF, cardiovascular risk factors; ECG, electrocardiogram; GVHD, graft vs. host disease; HbA1c, glycated haemoglobin; HSCT, haematopoietic stem cell transplantation; M, months; NP, natriuretic peptides (including BNP or NT-proBNP); NT-proBNP, N-terminal pro-BNP; TTE, transthoracic echocardiography. aIncluding physical examination, BP, lipid profile, and HbA1c. bMediastinal or mantle field radiation, alkylating agents, >250 mg/m2 doxorubicin or equivalent. cTotal body irradiation, alkylating agents.
References
| Therapy | Main oncologic indications | Type of cardiotoxicity | Approximate risk |
CAR T-cell therapy (CAR-T) (e.g. tisagenlecleucel, axicabtagene ciloleucel, lisocabtagene maraleucel, idecabtagene vicleucel, ciltacabtagene autoleucel): | Hematologic malignancies, depending on product:
| Hematologic malignancies, depending on product:
| LVEF or GLS decline: ~5–10% Symptomatic HF: 2–15% Acute coronary syndrome: 1.4–7% Any arrhythmia: 0.8–12.2% Atrial fibrillation: 0.4–7.6% Hypotension: up to 87% (often CRS-related) |
Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) | Advanced or metastatic cutaneous melanoma. Under investigation for other solid tumors. |
| Hypotension: ~2.6% |
Proposed surveillance (ESC guidelines):
Consider multidisciplinary discussion via BSMO BITOX Immunomanager submission
https://bsmo.be/multidiscplin-immunotox-meeting/
Grading of cytokine release syndrome Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS) – ASTCT Consensus Criteria
| CRS Grade | Fever (≥38°C) | Hypotension | Hypoxia |
| Grade 1 | Present | None | None |
| Grade 2 | Present | Responsive to IV fluids (no vasopressors) | Requiring low-flow oxygen (≤6 L/min nasal cannula) |
| Grade 3 | Present | Requiring one vasopressor (± vasopressin) | Requiring high-flow oxygen (>6 L/min), face mask, or non-rebreather |
| Grade 4 | Present | Requiring multiple vasopressors (excluding vasopressin) | Requiring positive pressure ventilation (CPAP, BiPAP, or mechanical ventilation) |
References
| Agent | Main hematologic indications | Type of cardiotoxicity | Approximate risk |
Bortezomib (Velcade®) | Multiple myeloma (induction, consolidation, maintenance). Mantle cell lymphoma; Occasional use in other plasma-cell or lymphoproliferative disorders. |
| Less frequent than carfilzomib
|
Carfilzomib (Kyprolis®) | Relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, typically in combination regimens (e.g. lenalidomide/dexamethasone and other) |
|
|
Multiple myeloma drug-related cardiovascular toxicities
Footnote: AF, atrial fibrillation; ATE, arterial thromboembolism; DM, diabetes mellitus; EMA, European Medicines Agency; FDA, Food and Drug Administration; HF, heart failure; HG, hyperglycaemia; HTN, hypertension; MedDRA, medical dictionary for regulatory activities; MI, myocardial infarction; PH, pulmonary hypertension; VTE, venous thromboembolism. Adverse reactions reported in multiple clinical trials or during post-marketing use are listed by system organ class (in MedDRA) and frequency. If the frequency is unknown or cannot be estimated from the available data, a blank space has been left. aIxazomib produces peripheral oedema in up to 18% of patients and hyperglycaemia in combination with lenalidomide or pomalidomide and dexamethasone.
Proposed Surveillance during therapie with proteosome inhibitors (ESC guidelines):
NTproBNP is not reimbursed in Belgium
Proposed Surveillance during multiple myeloma therapie (ESC guidelines):
NTproBNP is not reimbursed in Belgium
References
| Agent | Main hematologic indications | Type of cardiotoxicity | Approximate risk |
| Thalidomide Lenalidomide Pomalidomide | Multiple myeloma (across different lines of therapy). Myelodysplastic syndromes with isolated deletion (5q) (lenalidomide). Selected other hematologic conditions. |
|
|
Surveillance:
no specific recommendation. Consider surveillance protocols for other anticancer drugs given in combination.