Genes Identified that Protect Against Heart Damage from Chemotherapy

Researchers have announced that they have found the particular genes that protect the heart when a patient is receiving doxorubicin chemotherapy treatment. The chemical, doxorubicin, is one of the most common chemotherapy drugs used for cancer treatment.

In a recent press release, researchers at the Medical College of Georgia Cancer Center detailed their findings. There are specific genes in our bodies that assure our survival by protecting our heart from potentially being damaged by the chemotherapy drug, doxorubicin.

Researchers hope to use this information to develop a process that will allow them to control the genes that are responsible for protecting the heart tissues during chemotherapy.

If they can find a way to accomplish this, the next step would be to seek to enhance cancer treatment.

"At the moment you start inactivating these genes, the cells become very sensitive and don't grow any more. So now we know which genes we need to inactivate in the cell to make it very sensitive to the drug," said Dr. Hernan Flores-Rozas, cancer researcher at the Medical College of Georgia Cancer Center.

Chemotherapy itself is designed to kill cells that are growing and multiplying. An unpleasant side effect of chemotherapy is the fact that the drugs attack nearly all cells, since they do not have the ability to distinguish "good" cells from "bad," or cancerous cells.

The chemotherapy drug, doxorubicin, works by stopping cells from dividing.

At the present time, too many people who have undergone cancer treatment develop heart problems. This is because the cancer treatment kills cells. Although heart cells do not divide, they are still affected by the chemotherapy treatment.

Researchers have discovered that for some still unknown reason, chemotherapy treatment causes these heart cells, named cardiomyocytes, die, or commit suicide, said researchers. When this happens, the heart is unable to pump blood to the different parts of the body.

Unfortunately, the damage to the heart may not be readily apparent. Indeed, it often takes years for this condition to be discovered. At the present time there is no cure, or treatment options, for people who suffer with this condition.

Doxorubicin is used to treat a variety of cancers, including breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer. A companion drug, daunorubicin, is often used to treat lymphoma, leukemia, and is the drug of choice when treating children.

This study has been published in the journal, Cancer Research. The National Institutes of Health provided funding for this research.

Source:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-12/mcog-git120307.php