[Ben]

Velcade's impact on the heart

by Ben on Fri Jun 04, 2010 1:12 pm

I would be interested in seeing the Beacon write about this new research article sometime,

http://ajp.amjpathol.org/article/S0002-9440(10)60789-4/abstract

It reports results of a study using rats who were given Velcade (bortezomib). The authors say they wanted to look into the impact of Velcade on heart health because there are reports of Velcade having heart-related side effects. But it hasn't been clear if Velcade is the problem, or if the heart problems are because many patients on Velcade also have taken other drugs that create heart problems.

The authors say that their findings point to Velcade itself creating heart problems. They say: "Our findings indicate that bortezomib treatment leads to left ventricular contractile dysfunction manifested by a significant drop in left ventricle ejection fraction."

They also say: "Monitoring of cardiac function in bortezomib-treated patients should be implemented to evaluate how frequently cardiotoxicity develops especially in patients with pre-existing cardiac conditions, as well as when using additional cardiotoxic drugs."

[Beacon Staff]

Re: Velcade's impact on the heart

by Beacon Staff on Fri Jun 04, 2010 3:17 pm

Thanks, Ben, for the suggestion. We'll look into covering the article.

In the meantime, it's worth noting that the prescribing information for Velcade already includes the following warning in the "Warnings and Precautions" section:

Acute development or exacerbation of congestive heart failure and new onset of decreased left ventricular ejection fraction have been reported, including reports in patients with no risk factors for decreased left ventricular ejection fraction. Patients with risk factors for, or existing heart disease should be closely monitored.

However, even though this warning is in the prescribing information, there also is language that suggests that Velcade may not cause any additional risk for heart issues beyond the risk already created by other therapies.

Thus, the information in the article you've suggested could be helpful in clarifying whether, in fact, Velcade can create additional heart-related risk for patients taking it.

Again, thanks for the suggestion!

[roboman3]

Re: Velcade's impact on the heart

by roboman3 on Wed May 21, 2014 7:49 pm

My Mom has had multiple problems from first treatment Velcade. Now they are saying her heart may have a problem (so far first she had blood pressure drops, now some dizziness). Keep you posted. It did knock her numbers down.

[cindylouise]

Re: Velcade's impact on the heart

by cindylouise on Fri May 23, 2014 5:39 am

I couldn't get the link to the article to work. I would be be very interested in reading this if someone could fix the link. My husband has had a serious drop in ejection fraction, resulting in CHF, after taking Velcade and Cytoxan as his first treatment. Treatment was successful initially, tho.

[Beacon Staff]

Re: Velcade's impact on the heart

by Beacon Staff on Fri May 23, 2014 6:35 am

Thanks for letting us know about the problem with the link, Cindylouise. We have fixed it.