( Despite surviving the risk of cancer c...)Gene Variations Raise the Risk of Childhood Cancer Survivors,Health

Despite surviving the risk of cancer, children were still at the threat of suffering from congestive heart failure due to the complication of the drugs they received during the cancer treatment//.

The researchers studied anthracyclines, a commonly used class of anticancer drugs known to cause heart damage in some patients. The research team investigated two groups of childhood cancer survivors, all of whom had been treated with anthracyclines. The study compared 47 patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) to a control group of 195 patients without CHF.

The researchers investigated 10 polymorphisms, naturally occurring variants in DNA bases called nucleotides, in seven genes they identified as having a role in biological responses to anthracyclines. 'We found that polymorphisms in the GSTP gene significantly increased a patient’s risk for CHF after treatment with anthracyclines,'said Dr. Aplenc. One polymorphism increased risk by five times; another variant was linked to a tripling of risk.

The research group chose particular genes as candidates for study because those genes carry the codes for enzymes involved in metabolizing anthracyclines and the reactive oxygen molecules that anthracyclines produce. If physicians can better classify gene variations that modify side effects of anticancer drugs, they may be able to better tailor treatment plans to individual patients. Thus, knowledge of a patient’s genetic makeup may allow physicians to select a more personalized, less toxic treatment.

'Further study needs to be done, using larger numbers of patients, to determine if these results hold up,' said Dr. Aplenc, a pediatric oncologist at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, 'We hope these findings will provide a scientific foundation for safer, more effective cancer treatments for children.'

Dr. Aplenc’s research abstract was featured in a news conference at the ASCO meeting, which this year has a special focus o
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