A Michigan State University researcher is part of an international team that has discovered that an existing drug can help reduce the side effects of cisplatin, a widely used cancer treatment that was discovered at MSU in 1965.
Since its discovery, cisplatin has become the gold standard once morest which all cancer treatments are measured. Currently, cisplatin is used to treat testicular, ovarian, bladder, lung, stomach, and head and neck cancers. Although cisplatin has been shown to be an effective chemotherapy drug for treating cancer, the side effects of treatment can be debilitating and lead to discontinuation of treatment. Examples of such side effects include peripheral neuropathy, which causes severe pain in the hands and feet, and kidney toxicity, which can lead to kidney failure in 35% of patients taking cisplatin. Currently, no medication is available to reduce these side effects.
Patients taking cisplatin have weekly blood tests to monitor kidney function and look for kidney damage caused by the drug to determine if they can safely endure another course of treatment. If a patient has kidney toxicity, current options include withholding treatment or reducing the dose of chemotherapy. Some patients choose to stop treatment because the painful neuropathy in their extremities is too intense.
Now, there may be a solution to help patients beat cancer and reduce the severity of side effects from their treatment. MSU researcher Geoffroy Laumet, with his team and an interdisciplinary group of scientists from the University of Lille, the University of Strasbourg and the Institut Pasteur de Lille in France and the University of Coimbra in Portugal, found that istradefylline, a drug already approved by the FDA and used to treat Parkinson’s disease, can reduce the side effects of cisplatin while preserving its cancer-fighting strength.
Laumet is an assistant professor in the College of Natural Sciences who specializes in cisplatin-induced neuropathic pain. While researchers in France and Portugal have shown that istrafefylline reduces kidney toxicity, together with Laumet, the international team demonstrated that istrafefylline can also relieve peripheral neuropathy and improve tumor control.
“The exact interaction between istradefylline and cisplatin remains to be determined, but we know that tumor cells and cells stressed by cisplatin toxicity release a lot of adenosines,” Laumet said. “Istradefylline blocks the effects of adenosine. »
While istradefylline has been shown to be safe in humans, current experiments showing its effectiveness in combating the side effects of cisplatin have only been conducted in animal models. The next step is for the team to collaborate with researchers specializing in human clinical trials.
“Results from preclinical research have been promising,” Laumet said. “In the future, with istrafefylline, the hope is that patients can continue taking cisplatin without side effects or losing the effectiveness of the drug. »
Source of the story:
Materials provided by University of Michigan. Original written by Emilie Lorditch. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
