Anthracycline cardiotoxicity in non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma mediastinal mass: A case report

Anthracycline is often used for treatment of hematologic malignancies and solid tumors, and the damage it causes to the heart muscle has long been known; therefore, the cardiac toxicity, one of the treatment-related co-morbidities, has become an issue for cancer survivors. Cardiotoxicity has been defined using various classifications. In this paper we report the case of a man affected by follicular non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which was first diagnosed in 2006 and had a second recurrence in 2012 with a mediastinal mass: the patient was subjected to a new cycle of chemotherapy with anthracycline, the follow-up exam showed a significant reduction of the mass, but the clinical condition worsened and the ejection fraction of the left ventricle had a progressive reduction, as seen in the cardiac-MRI test. Then, it was decided to discontinue therapy with anthracycline, resulting in a clear recovery of systolic function of the left ventricle, as seen in the following echocardiogram.