From Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute: Standard-of-care treatment for many cancers includes chemotherapy drug cisplatin which prevents the spread of cancer cells by interrupting DNA replication and damaging the genetic material in rapidly dividing tumor cells. Unfortunately, the drug can cause unintended kidney damage in some patients, calling for a lowered dose or discontinuing the cancer-fighting treatment.
A team led by Lerner Research Institute's Jianjun Zhao, MD, PhD has shown that targeting a protein known as APE2 may help prevent the acute kidney injury associated with cisplatin treatment.