Chemotherapy with fewer side effects may be on the wayhttps://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-03-chemotherapy-side-effects.htmlA discovery by University of Queensland pain researchers may allow some future cancer patients, including children with leukemia, to avoid their chemotherapy's worst and most debilitating side effects.
Professor Irina Vetter and Dr. Hana Starobova thought "turning off" the inflammation that is one of the body's natural reactions to the chemotherapy drug vincristine might reduce its accompanying pain and unpleasant symptoms.
"We found the anti-inflammatory drug anakinra substantially reduced the awful nerve symptoms for which vincristine chemotherapy is known," Professor Vetter said.
"Importantly, it did not reduce the effectiveness of the chemo."
...
"Vincristine is used to treat cervical, brain and lung cancers, leukemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas," Professor Vetter said.
Vincristine is also used to treat Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis.
