Early Detection of Lapatinib-Induced Cardiotoxicity in Dogs Using Intraventricular Pressure Gradients and Two-Dimensional Speckle-Tracking Echocardiography

Lapatinib (tyrosine kinase inhibitor) is commonly used for cancer treatment; it may cause cardiotoxicity through manifesting diastolic dysfunction prior to the onset of systolic impairment. As traditional echocardiographic techniques have the limitations to detect the subclinical cardiotoxicity, hence new interventions are crucial for the timely intervention to treat such toxicities. The current study was planned to investigate the diastolic dysfunction induced by Lapatinib toxicity in cardiac tissues of dogs through non-invasive approaches. For this purpose, two techniques were applied including Intraventricular Pressure Gradients (IVPG) and Two-dimensional Speckle Tracking Echocardiography (2D-STE) on 10 sexually mature female Beagle dogs. Animals were randomly divided into two groups (n=5 each), one group was administered with single toxic dose of Lapatinib (40mg/kg BW) and the other group received a therapeutic dose (30mg/kg BW). IVPG and 2D-STE were applied along with conventional echocardiography before (0-hr), then 4 and 6hrs post-administration of Lapatinib. The results indicated that conventional cardiographs or myocardial strain did not reveal any significant changes in both groups before and after treatments. However, through IVPG, significant reduction in total, basal, mid and mid-to-apical values were observed at post administration time intervals of 4 and 6hrs compared to 0-hr in toxic dose group, revealing early diastolic dysfunction prior to any alteration in strain-based or systolic function. Hence, it was concluded that IVPG can be used for the diagnosis of Lapatinib induced cardiotoxicity prior to any significant change measurable by electrocardiographic techniques in dogs, as well as in other patients treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors therapy.

To Cite This Article: Helal MAY, Farag A, Elbadawy M, Usui T, Sasaki K, Tanaka R and Mandour AS, 2025. Early Detection of Lapatinib-Induced Cardiotoxicity in Dogs Using Intraventricular Pressure Gradients and Two-Dimensional Speckle-Tracking Echocardiography. Pak Vet J, 45(2): 751-758. http://dx.doi.org/10.29261/pakvetj/2025.197