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Platinum-based chemotherapy in childhood causes mutations that age the liver
Developing
In Short: Researchers analyzed liver tissues from both healthy and cancerous samples, as well as blood, using a sophisticated DNA sequencing technique to identify mutations caused by platinum agents in childhood cancer treatments.
On average, 2,200 mutations were found per liver sample, significantly higher than in blood cells, despite chemotherapy being a systemic treatment.
These mutations could increase the risk of liver pathologies or secondary tumors, according to the study’s authors.
The platinum is doing something differently to liver cells than other cells,' said Foad Rouhani, a professor at King’s College in London, suggesting that liver cells may metabolize or repair platinum differently.
Platinum-based chemotherapy, such as cisplatin and carboplatin, has transformed the prognosis of hepatoblastoma, a rare childhood cancer, from a five-year survival rate of 20% to more than 80% for localized tumors.
However, these treatments also cause mutations in healthy cells, potentially increasing the risk of new cancers later in life, a phenomenon that has been documented in adults but is less clear in children.
The study compared sequencing results to those from children treated with different drugs or not treated prior to surgery, as well as to fetal liver tissue, confirming that platinum exposure aged the liver cells of treated children.
The mutation load increased proportionally to platinum exposure, with children who received only cisplatin having fewer mutations than those who received both cisplatin and carboplatin.
What's still developing
- The researchers sampled tissues from the liver — both healthy and cancerous — and the patient’s blood, analyzing them through a sophisticated DNA sequencing technique called NanoSeq.
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- The study, by a team of doctors and researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, found that lab mice given two doses of psilocybin before receiving chemotherapy were shielded from nerve damage.
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Sources
- STATlink