A group of researchers recently convened at an event organized by the John B. Little (JBL) Center for Radiation Sciences to discuss strategies for mitigating the side effects of brain cancer radiotherapy. Radiation therapy is one of the core pillars of brain-cancer treatment alongside chemotherapy and surgery. The noninvasive treatment involves using beams of intense energy such as X-rays or other particles to destroy cancer cells and shrink tumors.
Radiation therapy is used to treat many types of cancers and contributes to at least 40% of all cancer treatments worldwide, making it an integral tool in the fight against cancer. However, it is also associated with a plethora of negative side effects such as fatigue, skin soreness, hair loss, appetite loss, diarrhea, fertility and sex issues, stiff joints and muscles, jaw stiffness, and difficulty swallowing.
One of the presenters at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health event was Laura Greco, a cancer patient who benefitted immensely from radiation therapy but has also been dealing with devastating side effects since. Greco was diagnosed with lung cancer and then metastatic cancer in 2015 and went through several rounds of radiation, chemotherapy and surgery to treat recurring brain tumors. She says the radiation and drugs “allowed her to live” but caused devastating side effects such as a sudden stroke that left her with face twitching and slurred speech.
Greco said the fact that side effects such as stroke are side effects of radiation therapy is “really, really frightening.” She called on the researchers to fix the problem and prevent further suffering by cancer patients.
Several radiation-science experts also discussed how recent advancements in the field are improving radiation therapy to make it more precise at targeting tumors to reduce the risk of damaging adjacent healthy cells and causing side effects. Oncologist and director of Massachusetts General Hospital’s Central Nervous System and Eye Services Helen Shih explained that while radiation is currently the best option for treating brain cancer, the damage it causes to surrounding healthy brain tissue can result in various side effects. She said severe side effects such as neurocognitive deficits in executive function, memory and attention, are among the most feared side effects of radiation treatment for brain cancer.
Much like other researchers in the field, Shih is working to improve radiation-delivery approaches to make the treatment more precise. This includes using proton radiation instead of traditional X-rays because the former is much more effective at targeting tumors without touching normal brain tissue.
Enterprises such as CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) are striving to develop novel therapeutics that can kill brain cancer cells while preserving as much of the surrounding healthy tissues as possible. This focus on a better safety profile could lower the burden of the side effects that patients undergoing alternative therapies such radiation face.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/CNSP
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