In the war on cancer, numerous medicines are helping millions fight the battle.
While these medicines are great at killing tumors, they also come with side effects. Many know that chemotherapy can cause nausea, fatigue and hair loss. What you may not know is that chemotherapy drugs (especially one called Cisplatin) can also damage the inner ear, causing permanent hearing loss.
Dr. Leonard Rybak, professor emeritus of surgery in the SIU Division of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery and SIUC distinguished scholar, has worked for decades on this topic. His research has identified several different pathways that can be targeted to decrease cisplatin-induced hearing loss and retain its ability to kill tumors.
In previous years, Dr. Rybak studied several antioxidants and found that in animal models, antioxidants protect against cisplatin-induced hearing loss and kidney damage. However, some experts are concerned that the antioxidants may interfere with cisplatin’s effectiveness as a cancer treatment.
Dr. Rybak recently received a $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue his studies.
With this new funding, Dr. Rybak’s laboratory is investigating potentially safer alternatives, such as capsaicin, a component of hot chili peppers. Dr. Rybak believes this component can reduce hearing loss and kidney damage if given prior to or after a dose of cisplatin.
The study will determine the smallest doses of capsaicin possible that will prevent hearing loss yet still allow cisplatin to be effective in the treatment of tumors. The results of the research may lead to cancer treatment with fewer negative side effects, like hearing loss and kidney damage.
The importance of these findings underscores the use of readily available natural products in the prevention of toxic effects of chemotherapy. These findings could easily be translated to humans for clinical use in the near future.

-kc