Zoe Barlow

Biology 1615 - T4

Cisplatin Treatment Promotes Repair and Tumor Progression in a Model of Lung Cancer
Introduction:
Throughout the world, and especially in the U.S., lung cancer is one of the most common
and fatal cancers seen, therefore research for successful chemotherapy treatments for infected
lungs is at a high demand. According to a U.S. Cancer Statistics Working Group, Lung cancer
is the leading cause of cancer death and the second most diagnosed cancer in both men and
women in the United States.1 Medical researchers, doctors, and scientists have discovered that
prolonged treatment with the use of chemotherapeutic drugs much like Cisplatin are simply
causing an injurious effect on lungs with invasive tumors. Information approved by the
Cancer.Net Editorial Board wrote that, Chemotherapy and radiation therapy [like Cisplatin] to
the chest may severely damage the lungs.2 This type of treatment is a prolonged and timeconsuming treatment, and tumors being treated are changing and restoring their own DNA,
which causes such tumors to develop further in mass. The damaged DNA being repaired by the
therapy seems to be resistant to Cisplatin Chemotherapy which is causing a much more frequent
mortality rate in treated patients. This chosen research paper was written on the developmental
study where live mice models that were modified to be diagnosed with an active and invasive
lung cancer. After developing the cancer fully, they were administered dosages of Cisplatin to
understand where treatment was going wrong and define exactly how tumors were becoming
resistant prior to treatment. Researchers made the prediction that the chronic use of Cisplatin
1 U.S. Cancer Statistics Working Group. United States Cancer Statistics: 19992011 Incidence
and Mortality Web-based Report. Atlanta (GA): Department of Health and Human Services,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and National Cancer Institute; 2014.
2 Approved by the Cancer.Net Editorial Board, 03/2014 http://www.cancer.net/survivorship/longterm-side-effects-cancer-treatment Long-Term Side Effects of Cancer Treatment 2014

Zoe Barlow
Biology 1615 - T4
chemotherapy used on the lungs of the mice, caused the tumors to basically become immune to
the treatment itself, therefore resulting in death throughout the mice. Knowing the actual cause
of resistance was important because this type of treatment for this type of cancer is greatly
needed.
Materials and Methods:
Experimental treatment for this study was done on mice that were held in a controlled
environment in which the mice were administered with a cancer agent allowing tumors to grow
inside of the lungs. Once cancer formed over the course of 12-16 weeks, and tumors were
visible through view under a Micro CT, treatment of Cisplatin was started. The mice within the
experiment were given different amounts of Cisplatin; one, two, three or four treatments via IV
over the course of two months. Micro CT scans were done after each treatment to evaluate size,
shape and response of the tumors. After the final dose, the mice were left completely free of all
treatment for 4-8 weeks, as to let the tumors grow. The mice were killed and the tumor-filled
lungs were cut out and examined.
Results:
After examination, it was found that in as little as 72 hours, mice who were administered
1-2 doses, had severe reactions to the treatment. The drugs showed a positive change in DNA
and the tumor sizes slowed down significantly. The sets of mice that were given 3-4 doses of
treatment were not as lucky, and tumors grew and learned to adapt to the treatment. Since not all
treatment was successful, scientists tried to find the exact time and place things went wrong.

They tried to find the reason DNA was reacting in the opposite way they wanted it to but were
not successful. They did discover that chronic treatment with platinum based chemotherapies,

Zoe Barlow
Biology 1615 - T4
like Cisplatin, did cause harmful tumor reaction and DNA repair and that this could be due to
missing properties, such as, inhibitors, enzymes, etc.

Discussion:
The continuation of research for chemotherapeutic treatment is very important, especially
in a world where cancer is present more than ever. Within this experimental study, researchers
wanted to find what was present or missing in DNA within cancerous tumors in the lungs. The
study as to why certain tumors with certain doses resisted treatment and vise versa is very crucial
if there is ever to be a cure.

Sources:
Chronic cisplatin treatment promotes enhanced damage repair and tumor progression in a
mouse model of lung cancer, Trudy G Oliver, Kim L. Mercer, Leanne C Sayles, Genes and
Development 2010, 837-852.
U.S. Cancer Statistics Working Group. United States Cancer Statistics: 19992011
Incidence and Mortality Web-based Report. Atlanta (GA): Department of Health and Human
Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and National Cancer Institute; 2014.
Approved by the Cancer.Net Editorial Board, 03/2014
http://www.cancer.net/survivorship/long-term-side-effects-cancer-treatment Long-Term Side
Effects of Cancer Treatment 2014