Drugs in the anthraquinone family include the prototypical daunorubicin, doxorubicin, mitoxantrone, losoxantrone, and pixantrone. Most of these drugs, with the notable exception of pixantrone, are extremely cardiotoxic, causing irreversible cardiomyopathy, which can limit their practical usefulness in cancer treatment.
Certain anthraquinone compounds, such as daunorubicin, doxorubicin, mitoxantrone, losoxantrone, and pixantrone, are highly toxic to the heart, leading to permanent damage and cardiomyopathy, which in turn restricts their application in cancer therapy.