title: Cancer therapy and cardiovascular risk: focus on bevacizumab.
abstract: Recognition and management of treatment-related cardiovascular toxicity, defined as either an acute cardiac event or a chronic condition, has been tightly integrated into routine cancer care and has become an important component in treatment selection. Several chemotherapeutic agents, such as anthracyclines, are traditionally characterized as cardiotoxic, but cardiovascular adverse events are also associated with commonly used molecular targeted therapies. In the past decade, bevacizumab, a monoclonal humanized antibody against vascular endothelial growth factor, has been introduced in the treatment of a variety of metastatic malignancies. Despite its efficacy, bevacizumab has been associated with significant risk of cardiovascular complications, such as hypertension, cardiac ischemia, and congestive heart failure. This review will focus on the cardiovascular toxicity of bevacizumab, providing the latest evidence on the incidence, clinical spectrum, risk factors, and responsible mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Medical Oncology Unit, 2nd Department of Internal Medicine, Attikon University Hospital, Haidari, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Panagiota
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Economopoulou
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, University Hospital of Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
authors.forename: Athanasios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kotsakis
authors.affiliation: 251 Airforce General Hospital, Department of Medical Oncology, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kapiris
authors.affiliation: 251 Airforce General Hospital, Department of Medical Oncology, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kentepozidis
keywords: bevacizumab; cardiovascular toxicity; hypertension