A study on mice by researchers in Spain has discovered the process that causes serious side effects on the nervous system during chemotherapy treatment.
The group, led by Dr Jordi Bruna, of Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Barcelona, studied the side effects by observing the neurons of mice who had been given the drug Cisplatin, and showed that the cells became less active, in a process similar to hibernation.
The findings, published in Neuro-Oncology, change the current understanding of how the drug takes action when given as chemotherapy to cancer patients, and might direct the development of drugs which could be given alongside the treatment, to reduce the side effects.