Lesser-known side effects of some chemotherapy drugs include hearing losss.

Many patients are receiving chemotherapy today to fight and overcome cancer. These powerful drugs, however, do have significant side effects and many are well known to the public such as hair loss, nausea, and weight loss.

A lesser-known and potentially permanent side effect of some commonly used drugs, such as cisplatin, is hearing impairment. And usually the higher the dose of the medication, the more likely the result is damage. High doses are frequently used to fight cancer.

Loss of hearing, even partial, is a significant disability as it lessens a patient’s ability to communicate. This is especially troublesome during and after a serious illness, as a connection with a “circle of friends” is so critical to recovery.

Findings from a study by Joseph Feghali, MD; Wei Liu, BS; and Thomas Van De Water PhD, from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, were reported in a recent issue of The Laryngoscope (Vol. 111:1148-1155). These scientists conducted an experiment in the laboratory using tissue culture techniques allowing inner ear cells and their connecting nerve filaments to grow.

These growing cells were then exposed to the chemotherapy drug cisplatin. The drug was found to severely damage these cells. However, when they added a natural substance called L-NAC to the cells before the chemotherapy drug cisplatin, the cells were protected and able to grow. ( L-NAC is a form of acetyl cysteine, an antioxidant and scavenger of oxygen-rich “radicals,” chemicals formed during various phases of our metabolism).

This study represents a first laboratory step to combat one treatment’s side effect. Additional research studies need to be done before a treatment recommendation can be made to patients. However, scientists can now focus on this area of research and perhaps build on the findings to develop clinical evidence that eventually benefits patients.