Chemotherapy Toxicity
Posted by Adrienne Choma on Mon, Aug 01, 2011 @ 01:54 PM
By its very definition, chemotherapy is toxic. Its job is to kill cancer cells, but unfortunately these agents do not discriminate between cancer cells and healthy cells, and as a consequence, some devastating side effects might ensue. If you look at the National Cancer Institute's common toxicity criteria, you will find a terrifying 70+ page document dedicated solely to describing and grading the various side effects associated with chemotherapy!
Chemotherapy side effects are graded from 1 to 5, with 1 being the mildest, even asymptomatic, to 5 being the most severe, even fatal! For obvious reasons, oncologists strive to minimize side effects of chemotherapy. When a patient exhibits Grade 3 or higher toxicity, oncologists may reduce the dose of the chemotherapeutic drug in the next treatment cycle, delay the next treatment or even discontinue treatment with that particular drug.
However, not everyone who receives chemotherapy will suffer toxic side effects or experience them to the same degree of severity. Many personal factors such as age, metabolism, liver function, kidney function, tumor size, drug absorption and clearance, as well as genetic factors influence the way a drug interacts with an individual’s cells. It is impossible to predict, in advance of drug administration, how all these factors will interact and how well a patient will tolerate and respond to the chosen chemotherapeutic treatment.
But of course doctors want to ensure that their patients are getting the right amount of drug to kill the cancer without unnecessary suffering due to toxic side effects. Arbitrarily reducing the dose may result in drug blood levels insufficient to kill the cancer. Delaying or discontinuing treatment may deprive the patient of an important weapon in the fight for survival. The oncologist is forced to walk a metaphorical tightrope when prescribing these drugs, and is locked into a major conflict!
Saladax Biomedical developed a simple tool to assist oncologists in optimizing individual patient chemotherapy dosing. The company specializes in the development of simple blood tests that can measure chemotherapy agents, so that oncologists can see the actual levels of the drug circulating in their patients’ blood stream and titrate the dose to a pre-defined optimal level – the so called therapeutic window. This window is the concentration of drug in the patient's blood that is considered to be most effective with the least side effects – you might call it the “sweet spot”. This has been demonstrated with the My5-FU™ test from Saladax. 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is a drug commonly used for the treatment of a number of cancers, that whilst highly effective is associated with some fairly harsh side effects. Clinical research conducted in Europe has demonstrated that 5-FU dose optimization in colorectal cancer patients can significantly reduce grade 3 and 4 toxicities and improve treatment response rates.
This new tool can significantly improve the safety and effectiveness of 5-FU for cancer patients. Saladax is committed to bringing more blood tests for chemotherapy agents to the market to help one day win the ongoing battle against cancer.
Paul Kenny, European Key Account Manager