Combatting Chemotherapy Neurotoxicity

Chemotherapy is a lifesaving treatment for millions of cancer patients worldwide, but it often comes with severe long-term side effects. One of the most debilitating is Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy, which can cause pain, weakness, numbness and even seizures, affecting up to 85% of patients and survivors. Docetaxel, a widely used chemotherapeutic drug, kills cancer cells by disrupting microtubule function. However, this same mechanism can damage nerve cells, leading many patients to experience motor and sensory deficits that sometimes force them to stop treatment. Understanding and preventing these neurological side effects is critical to ensuring that patients can complete therapy and maintain their quality of life.

In a study published in PLOS One, FAU researchers and collaborators used the tiny roundworm C. elegans to model docetaxel-induced neurological damage. By exposing the worms to acute and chronic doses of the drug and measuring recovery from shock-induced seizure-like behaviors, the team discovered that sildenafil citrate and a novel compound, Resveramorph-3, significantly improved recovery and reduced the severity of these behaviors. These findings provide important insight into the cellular mechanisms of chemotherapy-induced neurotoxicity and identify potential therapeutic avenues for protecting patients’ nervous systems while allowing them to complete lifesaving treatment.

“Using this platform, our team has laid the groundwork for developing strategies that could allow patients to complete lifesaving chemotherapy while minimizing long-term neurological damage,” said Ken Dawson-Scully, Ph.D., senior author and a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences within FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. “These findings represent an important step toward interventions that improve both the effectiveness and tolerability of cancer treatment.”

Read the press release.