Curbing Chemo

About

Overview Researchers at the University of Adelaide may have uncovered the secret to making life-saving chemotherapy significantly less uncomfortable for cancer patients everywhere Background Being diagnosed with cancer, one of the world’s most enduring and undiscriminating killers, is distressing enough. But making it a doubly cruel blow is the fact that undergoing one of its most effective treatments, chemotherapy, can itself be utterly debilitating, and even life threatening. Worldwide, anywhere from 60-80% of patients treated, depending on the dosage and type of chemotherapy used, experience discomforting side-effects such as diarrhoea, heightened pain sensitivity and, in some cases, sepsis, a potentially fatal immune system response. Inventor Researchers in the University of Adelaide’s School of Medical Sciences, however, those numbers appear set to drastically improve. Led by PhD student and Channel 9 Young Achiever Award winner for 2016 in Science and Technology Hannah Wardill, the team has identified a single immune receptor as the likely common trigger for two major sources of chemo-related symptoms. Focus The research has focused on the immune receptor known as Toll-Like receptor 4 (TLR4) which has been implicated not only in the development of gastrointestinal symptoms, but also appears to control people’s sensitivity to pain. TLR4 sets up an inflammatory response in the gut that is exacerbated by chemotherapy. By knocking out the TLR4 receptor in our test animals, improvements have been seen across all key markers of gut toxicity, as well as signs of reduced pain. Benefits This is the first time a tangible link has been identified between gastrointestinal and neurological toxicity following chemotherapy, and further highlights the communication that exists between the brain and the gut. Status Representative intestinal cells have been harvested and are now tested methods of pharmacologically inhibiting TLR4 in the gut only. This specificity of location is very important, because other research has shown that some TLR4 is required in the body in order for chemotherapy to effectively target tumour cells. Potential The potential is to not only improve quality of life for cancer patients during chemotherapy treatment, but to indirectly increase the effectiveness of all cancer treatment.