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Cancer Drug May Cause Leukemia

-November 23, 2005

According to researchers at UC Davis and Loyola University in California, the chemotherapy drug, topisomerase II inhibitor, can sometimes cause the onset of leukemia. Leukemia is cancer which affects the blood and bone marrow. Topisomerase is one of the most successful, and widely used, chemotherapy drugs available today. A small percentage of people who use this medication, however, are at risk for developing leukemia as a result.

According to the study, five to ten percent of those treated with this cancer drug will develop an arbitrary genetic mutation that can cause leukemia. "With each generation of new drugs and new treatments, we get better at treating solid tumors. But this is a bad response with patients and it's an unfortunate side effect of drug treatment." says Andrew Vaughan, a radiation biologist with UC Davis Cancer Center.

Researchers say there things patients can do to help with their cancer treatment, such as eating certain types of food. Until better drugs are made, this cancer drug side effect will be a risk posed to those receiving this form of chemotherapy. According to Vaughan, "The way I look at it, the drugs we have now are the best on the market and they will get better down the line."

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