Candidate Gene Association Studies of Anthracycline-induced Cardiotoxicity: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Anthracyclines play an important role in the management of patients with cancer but the development of anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity (ACT) remains a significant concern for most clinicians. Recently, genetic approach has been used to identify patients at increased risk of ACT. This systematic review assessed the association between genomic markers and ACT. A systematic literature search was performed in Medline, PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Studies, CINAHL Plus, AMED, EMBASE and HuGE Navigator from inception until May 2016. Twenty-eight studies examining the association of genetic variants and ACT were identified. These studies examined 84 different genes and 147 single nucleotide polymorphisms. Meta-analyses showed 3 risk variants significantly increased the risk for ACT; namely ABCC2 rs8187710 (pooled odds ratio: 2.20; 95% CI: 1.36–3.54), CYBA rs4673 (1.55; 1.05–2.30) and RAC2 rs13058338 (1.79; 1.27–2.52). The current evidence remains unclear on the potential role of pharmacogenomic screening prior to anthracycline therapy. Further research is needed to improve the diagnostic and prognostic role in predicting ACT.