Platinum-based chemotherapy in childhood causes mutations that age the liver

Researchers reported that platinum-based chemotherapy drugs commonly used to treat childhood cancers, including cisplatin and carboplatin, leave behind mutations in liver cells that make the tissue resemble that of a much older adult, according to STAT News.

The study, described in the September 10 STAT News report, found that children treated with these platinum compounds showed liver cells bearing mutational patterns consistent with accelerated aging. STAT News reported that this cellular aging may carry long-term consequences, including a possibly elevated risk of new tumors developing later in life.

Platinum-based chemotherapy has long been a mainstay of pediatric oncology, used against a range of cancers in children. The treatment’s acute toxicities are well documented, but STAT News noted that this newly identified liver effect had not previously been characterized. The findings point to a durable cellular signature left by the drugs, distinct from the more immediate side effects clinicians have historically monitored during and shortly after treatment.

STAT News reported that the implications extend to how survivors of childhood cancer are monitored over the course of their lives, since the mutational aging observed in liver tissue suggests risks that may not manifest until decades after treatment ends. The report also noted implications for future drug development, as researchers weigh how to reduce this kind of long-term cellular damage while preserving the treatments’ effectiveness against pediatric cancers.