The Effect of N-Acetylcysteine Administration to Prevent Anthracycline-Induced Cardiotoxicity in Breast Cancer Patients

Anthracyclines are one of the classes of chemotherapy drugs that  are widely used to treat many types of cancers including breast cancer. Taking this class of medications has a significant relationship with cardiac dysfunction. N-acetylcysteine has antioxidant properties and may be effective in preventing cardiac dysfunctions. In this study, we investigated the effect of N-acetylcysteine in preventing cardiotoxicity in breast cancer patients receiving anthracycline.
 A  total  of  60  breast  cancer  patients  who  underwent  chemotherapy  with anthracyclines were enrolled in the present case-control study and divided into two groups. The case group received 600 mg of N-acetylcysteine per day adjacent to chemotherapy; while  the  control  group  did  not  receive  this  medication.  One  month  after  the  last chemotherapy session, troponin I was measured as a predictor of cardiotoxicity.
Troponin I was positive in one patient in the case group compared with 3 patients in the control group without any significant difference among groups (P> 0.05) However, the respective mean±SD level of troponin I was 0.120±0.039 and 0.192±0.063 in the case and control groups with a statistically significant difference among groups (P <0.001).
Administration of 600 mg N-acetylcysteine per day during the anthracycline- based chemotherapy protocol in breast cancer patients may reduce the mean troponin I levels which can be a prediction of reduced anthracyclines cardiotoxicity.