Long-term, up to 18 months, protective effects of the angiotensin II receptor blocker telmisartan on Epirubin-induced inflammation and oxidative stress assessed by serial strain rate

Purpose The primary objective of the present study was to show the long lasting cardioprotective activity, at different time-points, up to 18 month-follow-up, of telmisartan in preserving the systolic function (assessed as Strain Rate-SR) in cancer patients treated with EPI both in the adjuvant and metastatic setting; the secondary objective was to confirm the correlation of the cardioprotective activity of telmisartan with a reduction of inflammation and oxidative stress induced by EPI.