Nevertheless,
When hearing cancer can also:
Cancer is a fierce battle between aggressive treatments and patient survival. Moreover, Among the most common weapons, chemotherapy plays an essential role in targeting fast division cancer cells. However. Moreover, a paradox persists: these drugs, while destroying tumors, can also damage healthy cells, in particular those that are quickly renewed, such as blood cells. Consequently, A new study published in Nature Genetics highlights this double cutting edge with unprecedented precision. Therefore, by identifying how certain treatments accelerate “artificially” the aging of healthy cells, and this, in a variable way depending on the drugs used.
Understand the impact of chemotherapy on healthy cells – When hearing cancer can also
Chemotherapy acts by causing breaks. Therefore, mutations in cell DNA, resulting in the death of tumor cells. However, certain normal cells, including blood stem cells, share this rapid division characteristic. Consequently, Their DNA can also when hearing cancer can also be damaged, causing mutations that accumulate over time.
To precisely assess this effect. researchers analyzed the blood of 23 patients who received various chemotherapy treatments and compared it to that of 9 healthy individuals. Their innovative approach was to isolate. sequence the DNA of blood stem cells, to detect “mutational signatures” – these special patterns of mutations which reflect the type of damage caused by various drugs.
Four new mutational signatures related to chemotherapy – When hearing cancer can also
The study revealed the existence of four new mutational signatures associated with chemotherapy. hitherto unknown in the Cosmic World Database. These changes are present only in treated patients, and vary according to administered drugs.
For example. some alkylating agents and compounds based on platinum, commonly used, are responsible for more mutations, while other drugs such as cyclophosphamide generates much fewer genetic alterations, which could explain why the risk of secondary cancer is when hearing cancer can also lower with the latter.
When blood cells seem older than they are
The accumulation of mutations in DNA is a natural process linked to aging. However, in patients treated with chemotherapy, this genetic aging is artificially accelerated. In the study. a 3 -year -old child under chemotherapy presented ten times more mutations in his blood cells than healthy children of the same age. In simple terms. his cells seemed genetically older than those of an 80 -year -old person who has never received a treatment.
This artificial “old age” does not necessarily mean that the cells will turn into cancer. but they accumulate an increased risk of secondary tumors. This risk is a crucial factor in the long -term management of patients. especially those who survive several years after initial treatment.
Credit: ISTOCK
Credits: KCKATE16/ISTOCK
Towards safer chemotherapy: Hope of personalized treatments
These discoveries pave the way for better selection of chemotherapy protocols. Understanding what drugs cause less genetic damage. doctors could choose such effective treatments for cancer, but less harmful to healthy cells.
For example, in certain Hodgkin’s lymphomas, alternative chemotherapy combinations have shown equivalent efficiency while reducing secondary mutations. This is particularly encouraging for cancers with a good healing rate, where prevention of long -term side effects is essential.
However. in more aggressive cancers with lower survival rates, it is first necessary to ensure healing before optimizing the toxicity of treatments. As an expert in the Memorial Sloan Kettering Center Center when hearing cancer can also points out. it is essential to cure cancer before reducing toxicity.
Future limits. perspectives
The study presents certain limits, in particular the modest size of the sample and the fact that the analyzes were done on blood cells in test tubes, which does not perfectly reproduce the natural environment of the body. Researchers wish to extend their work to wider cohorts and use circulating blood samples.
Despite these limits. this work constitutes a major advance in understanding the collateral effects of chemotherapy, and could soon contribute to more personalized medicine, combining efficiency and protection of healthy cells.
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