Cardiotoxicity of cisplatin-based chemotherapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients

• Cisplatin therapy is associated with cardiotoxicity.
• The oxidative stress is an important cause of cardiotoxicity by cancer chemotherapy including cisplatin in humans.
• Cardiac blood biomarkers can be used as long-term indicators of chemotherapy cardiotoxicity.

Cardiotoxicity is a well known consequence of cancer chemotherapy. Cisplatin-based combinations are standard regimens in the therapy of advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Administration of cisplatin-containing chemotherapy causes significant oxidative and nitrosative stress in some patients. Cardiac blood biomarkers can be used to evaluate cardiac status, may help to identify patients at risk myocardial damage evaluation and are able to detect subclinical, early-stage cisplatin-induced cardiotoxicity. The relevance of cardiovascular complications in cancer patients and identification of individual risk factors for developing cardiovascular toxicity merit further evaluation and a longer follow-up is needed.