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UniversityOf Mindanao
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Platinum in Cancer: A Salvation or A Damnation?
An Article
Submitted to:
Prof. Wherner Branzuela
By:
Aireen L. Custodio
October
2011
Title: Platinum in Cancer: A Salvation Or A Damnation
Thesis Statement : A hope for cancer patients that would surely brighten their eyes as they fight for survival is just an element’s compound common to anyone of us that is none other than the “white gold” or more particularly, the platinum.
I- Introduction
II-Background of the Study
- Platinum
- Definition and Properties
- Discovery
- Industrial Uses
- Cancer
- Overview
- History
- Platinum To Cancer
- Cisplatin and it’s History
- How does Cisplatin works?
- Cisplatin To Cancer
- Cisplatin and It’s Side Effects
- Presentation Of Data
A. What made Cisplatin widely accepted in today’s cancer medication processes despite of it’s obvious side effects? And is there any other platinum compound that could so far surpass the reigning one?
B. Are there cases where cisplatin was proven to be effective?
C. Consequently, are there any cases where complications arised while cisplatin- infused medication is taking place?
- Conclusion
- References
Platinum in Cancer: A Salvation Or A Damnation
By : Aireen L. Custodio
I- Introduction
People think that crime is the main reason of human mortality. Doctors don’t think likewise. Disease is, they say the major cause of death of most people. And cancer is in the top of their list.
Cancer, dubbed by the medical society as the world’s most notorious killer is a life-threatening disease feared by most people. This disease almost has everything- ranging from physical appearance deterioration up to cell deaths. It is not something anyone can admire as it had decimated most of our numbers in just a matter of time. It was as deadly as an epidemic and almost as impervious as a calamity.
Cancer has never been eradicated under the reason that it repels whatever remedy the doctors throw on it. It seemed to be resisting the best of medication known to man as it have puzzled the most brilliant medical minds starting from the legendary Hippocrates up the computer-literate doctors of the present. Meanwhile, cancer had effectively reduced our numbers- killing countless people whatever race they belong in.
Cancer doesn’t choose it’s victims. Rich or poor; black or white; tall or short: whatever you are or whoever you are. All it would take is for it to infect you and you will sick. It’s symptoms might not be obvious at first. It’s a silent killer, so to speak but deep beneath, it slowly perpetrates your cells, acquiring cell destructions in no time. It never cares on the damage it will create when it’s deliberate sickly touch takes a hold on you. It never minds if you’ll get killed or not.
Precaution’s, although proven to be authentic, is never really enough to supplicate the demands of the society. A vaccination is not enough to stop people from dying. What cancer patients want is a cure.
A permanent cure.
Physicians of course tend to look for a method to eradicate or at least to minimize the disease’s excruciating effects. They developed the so-called chemotherapy, which maybe did not completely banish cancer but had stopped more cases from developing into yet more serious strain. A lot survived but still more cancer-related deaths surfaced.
Scientists from today are currently working on a new experimental medicine. A platinum compound designed to bond with cancer DNA and encourages cell death. It may be absurd to say that the noble metal could be used in such impossible-to-cure medicinal strain. But nothing is impossible.
Isn’t it?
Related Literature and Studies:
The writer made through a research on different writings and gathered particularly the studies conducted from various materials such as journals, Internet, magazines and newspapers in relation and thoroughly present the study. She has selected the writings from reliable sources since the topic she has chosen is quite difficult to find in books as it was a new development in the scientific society. Literature to be discussed includes the definition of Platinum, the timeline of it’s history and it’s proposed industrial uses.
II- Background of the Study
- Platinum
- Definition
Platinum is a chemical element that mostly occurs in some nickel and copper ores along with some native deposits, mostly in South Africa. It is a dense malleable, ductile, precious gray white-transitional metal. It is generally unreactive and has a remarkable resistance to corrosion. In such reasons, it is considered to be a noble metal. It has six isotopes but is extremely rare, having an abundance of 0.005 parts per million.
- Discovery
`Although the modern history of platinum only begins in the 18th century, platinum has been found in objects dating from 700 BC, in particular the famous Casket of Thebes. This little box is decorated with hieroglyphics in gold, silver and an alloy of the platinum group metals.
For the Spanish Conquistadors of the 16th century, platinum was a nuisance. While panning for gold in New Granada they were puzzled by some white metal nuggets which were mixed with the nuggets of gold and which were difficult to separate. The Spanish called this metal Platina, a diminutive of Plata, the Spanish word for silver. Some thought that the platinum was a sort of unripe gold, so that for many years it had no value except as a means of counterfeiting.
In the 18th century platinum was a tough challenge to European scientists trying to understand and use the metal. Their difficulties came from the very properties which make platinum suitable for so many applications, such as its high melting point and its great resistance to corrosion. The problems were compounded by the other metals of the platinum group, which were present in raw platinum in varying quantities.
In 1751, a Swedish researcher named Sheffer succeeded in melting platinum by adding arsenic to it. He also recognized platinum as a new element. In 1782, Lavoisier achieved the first true melting of platinum using oxygen, which had recently been discovered; even so, it was another 25 years before commercial quantities of platinum could be produced by this method. During this period, platinum was used for the decoration of porcelain as well as for making laboratory ware and ornaments.
In the 19th century scientific and technological progress gathered pace. During 1802, Wollaston (pictured right) and Tennant developed refining of platinum and discovered palladium, followed in 1804 by rhodium, iridium and osmium. Meanwhile Wollaston perfected a method of producing malleable platinum. Grove studied the catalytic properties of platinum and in 1842 devised the very first fuel cell using platinum electrodes.
In England, Percival Norton Johnson began work on refining the platinum group metals. He took as his apprentice in 1838 George Matthey, and this collaboration gave birth to the partnership of Johnson and Matthey in 1851. The two men perfected the techniques of separation and refining of platinum group metals and the melting and casting of pure and homogeneous ingots. Matthey went on to create the standard meter in platinum and iridium, at the request of the French Academy of Science, in 1879.
- Industrial Uses
The metal started to gain popularity in industrial use because of its strength and that it was chemically inert. Soon, the metal was being used in gun parts, sophisticated batteries and fuel cells, in neurosurgical and dental apparatus and most importantly as an auto catalyst, converting harmful emissions into carbon dioxide and water.
Because of it’s use in electrical converters, it soon became dubbed the 'environmental metal.' And with the growing concern around the environment and emissions, the demand for the metal continues to grow.
Although there have been many uses for platinum, mining the needed amount to meet demand has been difficult. Statistics state that between 5 and 6 million ounces of new platinum are reaching the world market each year, which is less than 5% of gold production. Much of the platinum that is mined comes from South Africa and Russia.
In the late 1990s, when platinum traded at a price close to gold, the U.S. Mint added Platinum Eagles to complement its Gold Eagles and Silver Eagles. Canada also produced a Platinum Maple Leaf and Australia minted the Platinum Koalas. The launch of the Platinum Eagle brought a near doubling in investment demand and the coin quickly became the most popular platinum coin in the world. Proof Platinum American Eagles, when first released sold out.
In 1999, the Chinese platinum jewelry market was also booming. The metal also became the most requested in the Japanese bridal market and later skyrocketed in North America.
Currently, platinum is also being used in electronic devices like iPods and computer hard discs. Asian manufacturers are using the metal to create flat-panel glass in computer and television screens.
With the strong demand for platinum, investors and consumers alike have driven up the price to almost double that of gold. With supply low and demand high, it seems the value of platinum won't end anytime soon.
- Cancer
- Overview
Cancer begins when cells in a part of the body start to grow out of control. There are many kinds of cancer, but they all start because of out-of-control growth of abnormal cells.
Human beings have had cancer throughout recorded history. So it’s no surprise that from the dawn of history people have written about cancer. Some of the earliest evidence of cancer is found among fossilized bone tumors, human mummies in ancient Egypt, and ancient manuscripts. Growths suggestive of the bone cancer called osteosarcoma have been seen in mummies. Bony skull destruction as seen in cancer of the head and neck has been found, too.
Our oldest description of cancer (although the word cancer was not used) was discovered in Egypt and dates back to about 3000 BC. It is called the Edwin Smith Papyrus, and is a copy of part of an ancient Egyptian textbook on trauma surgery. It describes 8 cases of tumors or ulcers of the that were treated by cauterization, with a tool called the fire drill. The writing says about the disease, “There is no treatment.”
- History
The word cancer came from the father of medicine, Hippocrates, a Greek physician. Hippocrates used the Greek words, carcinos and carcinoma to describe tumors, thus calling cancer "karkinos." The Greek terms actually were words to describe a crab, which Hippocrates thought a tumor resembled. Although Hippocrates may have named "Cancer," he was certainly not the first to discover the disease. The history of cancer actually begins much earlier.
Early physicians, particularly Hippocrates believed that the body was composed of four fluids: blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. He believed that an excess of black bile in any given site in the body caused cancer. This was the general thought of the cause of cancer for the next 1400 years.
In ancient Egypt, it was believed cancer was caused by the God’s.
- Platinum on Cancer Medication
- Cisplatin and It’s History
In the 19th century, a platinum compound which would be later known as Cisplatin was created by Michel Peyrone. By then, it was still called “Peyrone’s Chloride”. It wasn't until the 1960s that scientists started getting interested in its biological effects, and cisplatin went ito clinical trials for cancer therapy in 1971. By the late 1970s it was already widely used and is still used today despite the many newer chemotherapy drugs developed over the past decades.
The way that cisplatin operates is by forming a platinum complex inside of a cell which binds to DNA and cross-links DNA. When DNA is cross-linked in this manner, it causes the cells to undergo apoptosis, or systematic cell death. One of the methods it uses causes apoptosis through cross-linking is by damaging the DNA so that the repair mechanisms for DNA are activated, and once the repair mechanisms are activated and the cells are found to not be salvageable, the death of those cells is triggered instead.
Cisplatin is frequently given as part of a combination chemotherapy regimen with other drugs. And even though it is an "old" drug as chemotherapy agents go (having been used for decades), it continues to find uses, especially as it is synergistic with other agents. For instance, a study recently showed the monoclonal antibody Erbitux (cetuximab) given with cisplatin is effective in patients with head and neck cancers.
- How Does Cisplatin Works?
Cisplatin’s action inside the cell is familiar to anyone who took organic chemistry in college: it’s a nucleophilic substation reaction (and remember, DNA is deoxyribonucleic acid). The shape of the cisplatin molecule is square and flat. Its covalent bonds readily exchange with other ligands, including even water. In the aqueous environment of the body, the chlorine atom in the cisplatin molecule is easily replaced by a hydroxyl group, and later by part of the DNA. If there is high chloride concentration in the bloodstream, this substitution reaction doesn’t go as far. If there is a low chloride concentration in the bloodstream, the cisplatin becomes so reactive it bonds to other proteins, which is not effective in fighting the cancer. Chinese scientists recently found that cisplatin induced loop structures and condensation in the DNA. This was attributed to the DNA's "thermal fluctuation".
The name “alkylating” derives from the drug’s mechanism of action; an alkyl group signifying a single, covalently bonded carbon atom. Alkylating agents are capable of forming from strong electrophiles usually via a carbonium ion or carbon radical. These electrophilic compounds naturally seek out nucleophilic atoms and functional groups to form their covalent bonds. Nucleophilic functional groups include phosphate, amino, sulfhydryl, carboxyl, and hydroxyl groups, among others. One atom that is particularly susceptible to alkylation is the nitrogen number 7 in the guanine nucleotide of DNA.
Transplatin, (an isomer of cisplatin that has the chlorine atoms opposite each other, rather than on the same side) also forms adducts with DNA, but mostly mono-adducts. It does not promote cross-linking which causes the gene replication process to go haywire.
The cisplatin molecule binds with a protein on one side and the DNA molecule on the other. The nitrogen atom at position 7 of guanine is susceptible to alkylation. The protein is critical; it protects the cisplatin molecule from being removed by DNA repair mechanisms in the cell.
The cis-PtCl2 (NH3)2 compound was first documented by M. Peyrone in 1845, and it was originally referred to as Peyrone's salt. Later, in the 1960s, scientists at Michigan State University found that platinum electrodes undergoing electrolysis produce cisplatin. It was first found to inhibit E. coli bacteria's ability to reproduce by preventing binary fission. Its first use in cancer treatment was for sarcomas that were artificially implanted into rats. They found that the drug was effective in treating sarcomas and proceeded to do clinical trials on humans. Cisplatin was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1978 for a variety of cancers and is being used to this day for treatment.
Cisplatin is used in conjunction with other drugs for maximum effect in what is called combination therapies. One of these combinations is with vinorelbine and ifosfamide to treat advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. To provide the best care for the patient, investigative drugs like Alimta are sometimes used with cisplatin since the effect may be measured against known data to see if the investigative drug improves the patient's condition. Therefore, the patient does not have to quit an effective treatment to test another drug's effectiveness and possibly regress. Another combination, used for locally advanced cervical carcinoma, is gemcitabine and cisplatin.
A recent meta-analysis found that cisplatin was effective in improving survival for patients who had lung cancer surgery. Researchers said their findings "confirms that adjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy is of benefit in completely resected NSCLC". Thus an old chemotherapy drug proves its worth, even in the face of fancy new drugs that are on patent.
- Cisplatin To Cancer
Like many antineoplastic drugs, cisplatin is administered intravenously. The nurse or technician will hook up a bag to your arm; the cisplatin is dissolved in a saline solution. Administration time is typically 30 minutes to 2 hours. The rate of administration is typically 1 mg/minute infusion. Cisplatin is sometimes given by intra-arterial and intraperitoneal routes. Intraarterial administration is used for melanoma, glioblastoma, and liver cancer. For some cancers (e.g. ovarian cancer), cisplatin is put into a bodily cavity rather than a blood vessel. the type and extent of a cancer determines the exact dose and schedule of administering this drug. Intraperitoneal administration typically results in a lower peak blood plasma concentration of the drug than intravenous administration, 6- to 8-hour infusion, 24-hour infusion, or per protocol; maximum rate of infusion of 1 mg/minute in patients with CHF.
The patient is typically given one to two liters of saline solution before the drug is injected. After administration, patients are given more saline solution intravenously and advised to maintain adequate water consumption for a day. Problems with urination (or no urination) should be reported to the doctor.
How long does it take for the cisplatin to get to the tumor? It depends on the administration method and which organ the tumor is in. The peak concentration in the kidney is only a few hours after infusion, while the liver, testes, and intestines don't get their peaks until a couple days after administration.
The drug companies supply oncology clinics with cisplatin as a powder or as a 1 mg/mL solution (1000 ppm).. The preparation usually contains salt and a diuretic such as mannitol. The technician at the clinic mixes the cisplatin into a saline solution appropriate for administration to the body.
Before taking cisplatin, tell your doctor and pharmacist if you are allergic to any platinum-containing compounds such as carboplatin (aka Paraplatin), or to any other drugs. Also tell your health care team about prescription and nonprescription medications you are taking.
Cisplatin does some weird things with your bodily fluids. While being treated, drink plenty of fluids because this drug can irritate your kidneys. Tell your doctor if you have ever had kidney disease before. The platinum drug also passes into milk, so don't feed.
Cisplatin may interfere with the normal menstrual cycle in women and may stop production in men.
Cisplatin is not given orally and would not work if given orally. It is not given dermally
- Cisplatin and it’s Side Effects.
Cancer is the second largest cause of mortalities in the western World, behind heart failure. Yet hundreds of millions around the globe live under the shadow of being diagnosed with this cruel disease. The reasons are simple. Dying of heart failure or a heart attack can be sudden and sometimes without pain. On the other hand succumbing to cancer can be a very long drawn process. This involves great suffering not only for the patient, but for their loved ones who can only look on in anguish as the disease takes hold.
The sad fact is that although conventional medicine does ostensibly claim to have a cure for cancer, however most people are just as afraid of the treatment as of the illness itself. Treating cancer usually involves some form of surgery to remove the cancerous tumor, followed by a course of chemotherapy to remove any cells that may have spread into other parts of the patient's body.
Chemotherapy treatment carries with it many side effects, the most prominent one being baldness. There can be no more a tragic sight than a young woman who is undergoing chemotherapy and who loses all the hair on her head. This is almost a badge to say "I have cancer and it may claim my life." This is the most physically obvious side effect of chemotherapy treatment. Patients who are due to undergo chemotherapy are advised well in advance to purchase a wig which is as close to their natural hair color as possible, so as to reduce the shock, especially if they are the mother to young children.
However the sad fact is that while baldness caused by chemotherapy treatment can be distressing for the cancer patient it is neither painful or causes discomfort. There are other side affects that do. One of them is the constant nausea experienced by most cancer sufferers undergoing chemotherapy, as well as sores inside the mouth which can eventually be blisters or ulcerate. These are terribly painful as well as making it increasingly difficult for the cancer sufferer to eat solid foods. Another side effect of chemotherapy that most patients suffer from is fatigue, caused instrumentally by the effects of the drug on the patient's system, as well as the fear and uncertainty that they will be going through.
It is no wonder that more and more people, who have been diagnosed with cancer, choose not to be treated through conventional medicine. Many have become aware of the alternatives that holistic methods of treatment have to offer them.
Statistics increasingly show that homeopathic medicine provides the cancer sufferer with at least an equal chance of surviving cancer in all its forms. Many people, even some who were diagnosed as being in a terminal state by practitioners of conventional medicine, have been completely cured by holistic medicine methods.
Whatever the outcome, they have been able to live out the rest of their lives in dignity and without the unnecessary suffering, the only thing that chemotherapy treatment guarantees.
III- Presentation Of Data
This section presents the findings of the study. Results are organized based on the following: the definition of cisplatin, it’s initiation and reputation and it’s beneficial and hazardous side effects.
- What made Cisplatin widely accepted in today’s cancer medication processes despite of it’s obvious side effects? And is there any other platinum compound that could so far surpass the reigning one?
Cisplatin, while considered to have excruciating consequences after it’s administration in the patient’s intravenous drip is still the first choice for cancer medication. That is under the reason that unlike any other conventional methods, cisplatin can guarantee 10%-80% casualty rate in the medication. Moreover, Cisplatin treatments can destroy cancer cells by bonding with the DNA without destroying the normal cells thus will give much more possibility of survival. Also, the scientific society still hasn’t produced a more sophisticated method to eradicate those aforementioned side effects.
Scientist though were experimenting on a so-called light-activated platinum compound which when exposed to green or blue light will react. Upon reaction, it is said that the light-activated molecules kills the cancer cells without undue side effects.
Igor V Alabuqin, a scientist specializing in photochemistry states: "When one of the two strands of our cellular DNA is broken, intricate cell machinery is mobilized to repair the damage, Only because this process is efficient can humans function in an environment full of ultraviolet irradiation, heavy metals and other factors that constantly damage our cells."
However, as Alabuqin has said, a cell that sustains so much damage that both DNA strands are broken at the same time eventually will commit suicide -- a process known as apoptosis.
"In our research, we're working on ways to induce apoptosis in cancer cells -- or any cells that have harmful genetic mutations -- by damaging both of their DNA strands," Alabugin said. "We have found that a group of cancer-killing molecules known as lysine conjugates can identify a damaged spot, or 'cleavage,' in a single strand of DNA and then induce cleavage on the DNA strand opposite the damage site. This 'double cleavage' of the DNA is very difficult for the cell to repair and typically leads to apoptosis."
“What's more, the lysine conjugates' cancer-killing properties are manifested only when they are exposed to certain types of light, thus allowing researchers to activate them at exactly the right place and time, when their concentration is high inside of the cancer cells,” Alabugin said.
"So, for example, doctors treating a patient with an esophageal tumor might first inject the tumor with a drug containing lysine conjugates," he said. "Then they would insert a fiber-optic scope down the patient's throat to shine light on the affected area." The light exposure would activate the drug, leading to double-strand DNA damage in the cancerous cells -- and cell death -- for as much as 25 percent to 30 percent of the cells in the tumor,at a rate that rivals in efficiency any of the highly complex and rare DNA-cleaving molecules produced by nature, Alabugin said -- and, perhaps just as importantly, avoids damage to healthy cells.
For tumors located deeper within the body, he pointed to other studies showing that a pulsed laser device can be used to penetrate muscle and other tissues, thereby activating the drugs using near-infrared beams of light.
As proof of principle to the idea that lysine conjugates possess anti-cancer activity, Alabugin collaborated with cancer biologist Dr. John A. Copland of the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Jacksonville, Fla. In their tests, several of the molecules demonstrated little effect upon cultured cancer cells -- in this case, metastatic human kidney cancer cells -- without light, but upon phototherapy activation killed more than 90 percent of the cancer cells with a single treatment. Future work will include demonstrating anti-cancer activity in an animal model. Successful completion of the preclinical studies then could lead to clinical trials with human patients.
Alabugin recently collaborated with four other FSU researchers -- Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Nancy L. Greenbaum and her postdoctoral fellow, Jörg C. Schlatterer, as well as Alabugin's postdoctoral fellow, Serguei V. Kovalenko, and doctoral student Boris Breiner -- on a paper describing the results of their research. That paper, "DNA Damage-Site Recognition by Lysine Conjugates," was published in the July 23 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Alabugin and his FSU colleagues also have applied for a patent on their work.
Thus, if this experimental method surfaces into reality, more cancer patients would be cured. In theory.
- Are there cases where cisplatin was proven to be effective?
Numerous cases of cancer survival were in the gratitude of cisplatin infusions. Most of them took them regularly, without any fear of harmful side effects that might lead to their own downfall.
One such case is of a woman who maintained her cisplatin medications and had miraculously recovered. The patient was diagnosed with stage III A ovarian carcinoma in May 2006. Following primary cytoreductive surgery she received six cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy consisting of carboplatin andpaclitaxel as three weekly regimes. After two years she presented with discomfort and distension of abdomen. On examination she was on distress due abdominal distension. Clinical examination confirmed huge acuities. Ultrasonography of abdomen did not show anything besides ascities. Routine blood examination, renal function and liver function test were normal. Four liters of ascitic fluid was removed under aseptic technique and sent for malignant cells which was positive for metastatic adenocarcinoma. Her serum CA-125 antigen level was 163 u/ml. She was treated with weekly cisplatin and daily oral etoposide regime. The treatment regimen consisted of 6 weekly i.v. cisplatin infusions on day 1, 8, 15 and day 29, 36, 43, combined with daily oral etoposide 50 mg on days 1 – 15 and days 29 – 43. The cisplatin dose was 50 mg m2. Cisplatin was dissolved in 500 ml Normal Saline and administered over 3 hours. The cisplatin infusion started after prehydration with1000 ml normal saline with 20 mmol KCl and 1 g MgSO4. After the cisplatin infusion the patients received posthydration consisting of 1 liters normal saline with 20 mmol KCl and 1g MgSO4 given over 4 hours. All patients received odansetron 16 mg and dexamethasone16 mg i.v. 30 min before the start of cisplatin. After the sixth cisplatin administration, treatment with oral etoposide 50 mg per day for 21 days, every 4 weeks, for 6 cycles was given. At present patient on regular follow up without any symptoms.
Weekly cisplatin and daily oral etoposide is effective chemotherapy regime for relapse ovarian cancer especially if progression free survival is more than one year unless toxicity from previous therapy prohibits the use of cisplatin. This chemotherapy regime is economical and less toxic also.
Another such case is about a patient who recovered from the consequent side effects of the cisplatin therapy. The patient experienced tinnitus and fluctuating mild high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) with a concomitant decrease in distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE). There was recovery of hearing loss and return of DPOAE at 1 year after completion of cisplatin therapy. Reports of recovery from cisplatin-induced ototoxicity in humans are limited in the literature, especially in the pediatric population. A review of cisplatin ototoxicity and mechanisms of recovery are discussed, with an emphasis on the particular chemotherapy regimen and dosing schedule in this case, given at 4-11 week intervals.
Another one was the Lance Armstrong Cancer Survival story. It is truly inspirational, and the Lance Armstrong foundation, which he founded in 1997, has helped many people with cancer through advocacy and awareness campaigns, fundraising events and volunteer opportunities.
At the age of 25, Lance Armstrong seemed invincible. He was one of the world’s best cyclists, having won numerous races, including a couple of stages in the Tour De France, arguably the world’s biggest cycling race. But then his life changed. He was diagnosed with cancer.
The diagnosis was testicular cancer, stage 3. Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men aged 15-35, and when diagnosed early, has a very good cure rate of 90%. However, Lance being a seemingly healthy young man, ignored the warning signs. By the time the cancer was diagnosed, it had spread to his lungs, abdomen and brain. His chances of survival dimmed.
But the Lance Armstrong cancer story doesn’t end there. Lance’s combination of physical conditioning, strong support system and competitive spirit took over. He declared himself a not a cancer victim but a cancer survivor. He educated himself about the disease and treatment options. Armed with this knowledge, he underwent aggressive treatment and beat the disease.
The standard chemotherapy drugs to treat testicular cancer are a cocktail of BEP (bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin, or platinol). Armstrong chose an alternative though, VIP (etoposide, ifosfamide, and cisplatin) to avoid the lung toxicity associated with the drug bleomycin. This decision may have saved his cycling career, by avoiding impaired lung function caused by the drug. His treatment lasted from October to December 1996. During his treatment Lance underwent two surgeries, one to remove the cancerous testicle and another to remove two cancerous lesions from his brain.
Armstrong created the Lance Armstrong Foundation during his treatment. He is now a world representative for the cancer community, with his foundation uniting, empowering and inspiring people with cancer.
The Lance Armstrong cancer battle should be an inspiration to us all, Lance always had great faith and hope, and did not let his poor prognosisdeter him. He did everything he possibly could to get better. He chose a very strong method of treatment to give his body the best possible hope for recovery. He pushed himself hard to stay in shape, and to begin training as soon as he could.
Not only did he keep racing, but just 3 years after his diagnosis he went on to win the Tour de France, a race he has gone on to win 7 times. Lance’s success should give hope to every other cancer sufferer, that no matter how grim the outlook might be, there is always hope!
The Lance Armstrong cancer story does not end with his recovery, for Armstrong it is the beginning of the battle against cancer, for those who are, or have yet to be affected by it. Lance owes his current life to cancer, the disease made him who he is now, and made him decide to live strong.
- Consequently, are there any cases where complications arised while cisplatin-infused medication is taking place?
There is of course a few complications in some cases. Cisplatin treatments, after all is operated in exact standards. One mistake and it could lead into serious complications.
One case proving this was about a thirty-eight year old woman who complains about her left shoulder pain, which had worsened in the last six months. It was later discovered that a 40 mm lesion is growing fast in the part. As preparation for limb-salvage surgery, the woman underwent cisplatin chemotherapy sessions, having a dose of 150 mg. per square mm.
During the IA infusion, the patient complained about worsened limb pains but was temporarily relieved with levorphanol. There was no evident change on the neurological and circulatory integrity on the left arms. Three days later, limb pains surfaced again and seceral days later, pain came up to the wrist.
Studies showed that there is decreased sensation on the proximal left humerus and nerves in the body part were denerved thus cannot send signals for movement.
IV- CONCLUSION
Platinum as a cure for cancer. It may be both a salvation and damnation. Salvation because it
gives you a better insight in life. A better insight that would make us realize how important and significant life is. Cisplatin and other platinum compounds can save millions of lives out of its metallic molecules. It can remold the scientific society and offer new hopes for numerous cancer patients. Hope that they will hold on as they face the chemical infusions and chemotherapies.
It can also give you damnation, which leads mainly on one’s downfall. One may lose his senses as he infuses himself in such cisplatin medication. One injection in your intravenous drip might lead you in a sensory deprivation or worse, even more complications that might turn out into a much more complicated strain.
But either way, whether cisplatin will be considered a salvation and damnation, It still is a good discovery that had proven to be beneficial over the years since it’s official implementation. You can see it clearly on the evidences where more people were granted extensions in their lifetime. Regardless of it’s excruciating consequences, it still is an instrument that could bring smile to the shriveled faces of the relenting cancer patients. Especially to those who hadn’t smiled for a long time.
Just have faith, both in God and in science. Faith can move mountains. Even those mountains that has all those odds.
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