“The drugs administered cause DNA damage of cancer cells, making them unable to survive. However, the treatment also damages the DNA of healthy cells, which leads to long-term side effects…”
DNA damage caused by cancer therapy is a good news bad news scenario. The good news is that killing cancer cells is great. And the bad news is that DNA damage done to healthy cells increases your risk of
- Treatment-related secondary cancer-
The risk of treatment-related secondary cancer is small initially however the risks increase annually and differ depending on the type chemo/ratiation you had and differs for both solid and blood cancer. My point is that the risks increase the longer you survive.
- Relapse, resistance and spread of your original cancer-
My cancer, multiple myeloma, always relapses. Most cancer can. Many cancers can relapse and spread or metastasize. All of these side effects can be attributed to DNA damage.
- Senescence or premature aging-
DNA damage causes senescence which causes a staggering number of long-term side effects.
So all these bad things can happen as a result of chemotherapy -induced DNA damage. What’s the solution?
man hand holding his nutritional supplemets, healthy lifestyle background.
A long and growing list of evidence-based but non-conventional therapies such as nutrition, supplementation, exercise, whole body hyperthermia, etc. have be cited to repair chemotherapy and radiation-induced DNA damage. I know a non-conventional lifestyle works because it has kept me cancer-free since 1999.
To learn more about genetic expression, DNA damage and more read the many posts linked below.
Are you a cancer survivor? What type of cancer? How long? Are you experiencing some of the side effects discussed in the linked information above? Scroll down, post a question or comment and I will reply to you ASAP.
Hang in there,
David Emerson
- Cancer Survivor
- Cancer Coach
- Director PeopleBeatingCancer
“Some of the most common side-effects induced by anti-cancer treatments are secondary (therapeutic-induced) malignancies, nephro-, hepato-, neuro-, cardio-, and ototoxicity [9,10,11,12,13,14]. To kill tumor cells, chemo- and radiotherapy are frequently used that mainly target DNA, but these therapies also elevate DNA damage in (surrounding) healthy tissue, causing toxicities and accelerated aging [10,12,14,15]…”
“…Understanding the influence of nutrition on cellular and molecular pathways should enable the development of nutritional strategies for maintaining health and possibly for treating and preventing diseases triggered by dietary deficiencies. The elderly population is particularly vulnerable to various deficits due to reduced intake of food rich in vitamins, micro- and macroelements. Micronutrients are essential for the maintenance of physical and cognitive functions in an aging body.
A well-balanced diet rich in vegetables and fruit should be the most important part of prophylaxis of age-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative diseases, or age-related anorexia, as well as a way to promote healthy aging with a high QoL..”
“Researchers at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Barcelona, have characterized the “mutational footprint” that occurs in cells as a result of chemotherapy and leads to long-term side effects…
Chemotherapy has long-term side effects
The drugs administered damage the DNA of cancer cells, making them unable to survive. However, the treatment also damages the DNA of healthy cells, which leads to long-term side effects…
“Once this ‘footprint’ has been identified, we can quantify the DNA mutations that have been caused by each kind of chemotherapy, as well as those caused by treatment combinations,” says López-Bigas…
López-Bigas says the team has calculated that, during treatment, some of these therapies cause DNA mutations at a rate that is between 100 and 1000 times faster than what normally occurs in a cell…
This is what researchers at UCLA found about the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation…
Many cancer survivors report an effect called “chemobrain,” which is difficulty with the cognitive ability of mentally processing or understanding things after chemotherapy and other cancer treatments.
The study used neuropsychological tests, which scientifically look at how well one’s brain is working, as well as self-reported data and information from 94 participants to measure mental function.
The results showed that these cancer treatments may damage the DNA within healthy cells in your body as well as damaging the cancer cells they are meant to fight, which can affect mental abilities afterwards. The researchers believe the result of this damage has an actual impact on the aging process…
Lead researcher Dr. Patricia Ganz told the UCLA Daily Bruin that these treatments may be speeding up effects of aging that would happen naturally, but otherwise at a slower pace. “All these associations are also common in people as they get older, and we think that cancer treatments may be accelerating the aging process and be leading to some of the cognitive difficulties also seen in normal aging,” she said…
