Time to switch angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers to sacubitril/valsartan in patients with cancer therapy-related cardiac dysfunction

Advances in cancer therapy have resulted in more cancer therapy-related cardiac dysfunction (CTRCD), which is the main cause of death in older female survivors of breast cancer. Traditionally, guideline-recommended medications for heart failure, such as beta-blockers and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers (ACEIs/ARBs), are commonly used to prevent or attenuate CTRCD. However, sometimes their effectiveness is not satisfactory. Recently, the drug combination of sacubitril plus valsartan has been proven to be more beneficial for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction in the long term compared with an ACEI/ARB alone. However, there is a lack of evidence of the efficacy and safety of this drug combination in CTRCD. We report a case of worsening CTRCD, despite treatment with traditional medications, in which the patient improved after changing perindopril to sacubitril/valsartan. The patient’s heart function greatly improved after changing this ACEI to sacubitril/valsartan. Changing an ACEI/ARB to sacubitril/valsartan in patients with worsening chemotherapy-induced heart failure is appropriate. Further studies with a high level of evidence are required to assess the efficacy and safety of sacubitril/valsartan for CTRCD.