ALL, acute lymphoblastic leukemia; AML, acute myeloblastic leukemia. The survivors who had received the cardioprotective agent dexrazoxane were excluded. Furthermore, patients with renal insufficiency, liver dysfunction, abnormal blood pressure, abnormal body mass index and those who were on any current medication, were excluded to avoid possible effects on NTproBNP values. To establish AMN-107 in vivo NTproBNP reference values, we selected a control group of 44 subjects (aged 20–28 years, 50% women) without

any known cardiovascular risk factors and no clinical evidence of heart, lung, renal, liver or systemic disease. A blood sample was drawn and stored under the same conditions as in the patients. In this study, our normal values of NTproBNP were different for females (<105 pg/mL) and males (<75 pg/mL) (below 97.5th percentile from controls). All participants find more or their guardians gave their written informed consent. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the National Cancer Institute and the Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in JQ-EZ-05 clinical trial Bratislava, Slovak Republic. All patients were examined by a general cardiologist. The blood

samples for immunochemical analysis were obtained at the same day as the echocardiographic measurement was performed. Biochemical analysis EDTA-anticoagulated blood (5 ml) was collected by venous puncture. Fasting was not a prerequisite before sampling. The whole blood was centrifuged for 10 minutes (3500 rpm) Acyl CoA dehydrogenase within 2 h after sampling. Centrifuged plasma (500 μL) was aliquoted to labeled eppendorf tubes before freezing and stored at −20°C until assayed. The cardiac biomarker NTproBNP was measured

at the Clinical Biochemistry Department, National Cardiovascular Institute, Bratislava, Slovak Republic, within two months after collection. Hemolyzed samples were excluded. Venous blood samples were obtained in the morning and serum concentrations of biomarkers were measured by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay on Elecsys analyzer (Roche Diagnostics). The detection limit for the NTproBNP assay is 5 pg/mL. We compared the NTproBNP levels between the studied groups exposed and unexposed to ANT and our age- and sex-matched control group. Echocardiography Echocardiography using a GE VIVID 7 machine (GE Ultrasound Europe) was performed in all patients included in the study. Assessment was done by one experienced cardiologist who was unaware of the participants’ treatment status and the NTproBNP value. Standard techniques were used to obtain M-mode, two-dimensional and Doppler (color, pulse, continuous, tissue) echocardiograms. Left ventricular (LV) end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD), LV end-systolic diameter (LVESD) and left atrium dimension were measured using standard M-mode methods from parasternal LV long axis images.