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Chemo hearing-loss treatments considered

PORTLAND, Ore., Dec. 12 (UPI) -- Scientists say hearing loss from chemotherapy has been underestimated and are looking at ways to treat the problem.

Ototoxicity, in which platinum-based chemotherapy drugs damage the tiny hair cells in the inner ear that vibrate in response to sound waves, leads to progressive, irreversible hearing loss.

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A study published in the current edition of the Journal of Clinical Oncology found that a well-known classification system doctors use for reporting toxicities in patients, the National Cancer Institute's Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, doesn't consider high-frequency hearing loss, allowing the magnitude of ototoxicity in children treated with platinum agents to be miscalculated.

Researchers from Oregon Health & Science University tested the hearing of 67 patients who received platinum-based chemotherapy. Hearing loss was found in 61 percent of patients.

Researchers say sodium thiosulfate has decreased hearing loss in patients with malignant brain tumors who were treated with carboplatin chemotherapy.

The OHSU study team is developing protocols for a clinical trial of a second potential chemo-protectant called N-acetylcysteine, or NAC, which may prevent hearing loss by binding to cisplatin's platinum molecules.

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