SNPs in cardiac ABC transporter genes as predictors of anthracycline induced cardiomyopathy in childhood cancer

Although the majority of childhood cancer patients now survive, survivors can be left with serious long-term problems as a result of the aggressive treatments used. Heart failure is a serious long-term complication of a type of chemotherapy drug known as anthracyclines. The exact reasons why some children are more prone to develop heart failure are not understood. Our project is looking at a group of genes known as ‘drug transporter’ genes that are known to affect anthracycline concentrations in heart muscle cells. We will test whether differences in these genes predict which patients develop heart failure and how severely they are affected.