Researchers
at Harvard Medical School recently studied the remains of tumor cells that were
killed by chemotherapy or other cancer treatments. What they discovered is was
quite alarming. These treatments or therapies can stimulate the growth of the
tumor. This is done by triggering an inflammatory reaction. Chemotherapy is just
supposed to kill cells not package them up and transport them out of the body.
The dead cells that re left behind have the ability to stimulate the productions
of proimflammatory cytokines. These cytokines are signaling molecules that
promote tumor growth.
In their study, they killed laboratory cultured cancer
cells with different types of cytotoxic or targeted drugs. They then injected
the debris into mice containing a small amount of living cancer cells that were
not able to proliferate on their own. The results showed that the treatment
contributed to cell growth. More research showed that the dead cancer cells
have phosphatidylserine, a lipid, exposed on their surface. This lipid triggers
the proinflammatory cytokines.
This group went on to test if clearing out the debris would
help this situation. The results can be read in the paper below. The question
that is burning in the back of my mind while reading this is “Why are we
continuing to administer chemotherapy and other cancer treatments if there is
research showing that it helps the tumors grow?”
Chemotherapy is known for its ability to make the patient
extremely sick, cause loss of hair, and make them extremely susceptible to
infection. Patients have a hard time eating due to the extreme nausea. On top
of everything, 15%-25% of patients with cancer are diagnosed with depression. It
brings up the ethical value of non-maleficence and not wanting to cause more
harm than is already done. If we know the cancer could or is trigger the
proinflammatory cytokines and allowing the tumor to grow, then should we be
giving the patients chemotherapy in the first place?
Obviously, each patient is an individual case
and cost to benefit is examined on an individual basis. Finally, it is always the patient’s decision.
Megan L. Sulciner,
Charles N. Serhan, Molly M. Gilligan, Dayna K. Mudge, Jaimie Chang, Allison
Gartung, Kristen A. Lehner, Diane R. Bielenberg, Birgitta Schmidt, Jesmond
Dalli, Emily R. Greene, Yael Gus-Brautbar, Julia Piwowarski, Tadanori Mammoto,
David Zurakowski, Mauro Perretti, Vikas P. Sukhatme, Arja Kaipainen, Mark W.
Kieran, Sui Huang, Dipak Panigrahy. Resolvins suppress tumor growth and
enhance cancer therapy. The Journal of Experimental Medicine,
2017; jem.20170681 DOI: 10.1084/jem.20170681
No comments:
Post a Comment