The Journal of Brief Ideas

By Ashwin K. Jainarayanan, Ankush Sharma

Cisplatin is an effective chemotherapeutic drug against a vast variety of cancers. It is a cytotoxic drug that kills cancer cells by forming DNA adducts, thereby damaging the DNA leading to apoptosis. However, the clinical use of cisplatin is limited by severe side effects in healthy tissues with nephrotoxicity being the major issue (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3756417/). The side effects are mainly due to the accumulation of cisplatin in kidney, especially when the drug is transported through organic cation transporter II expressed in the basolateral membrane of proximal tubule cells. This induces p53 which activate PUMAα (pro-apoptotic protein) in renal tubular cells which leads to renal failure due to apoptosis (https://www.hindawi.com/journals/scientifica/2012/473829/).

However, this can be prevented by pre-treatment with QiShenYiQi pills (QSYQ), a compound in Chinese medicine which significantly decreases histological damage and cisplatin-induced increase in plasma urea levels and creatinine levels (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321989615_QiShenYiQi_Pills_a_Compound_Chinese_Medicine_Prevented_Cisplatin_Induced_Acute_Kidney_Injury_via_Regulating_Mitochondrial_Function). Thereby we propose, a combinatorial treatment approach towards cancer through cisplatin and QSYQ, where the later can decrease the cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity and enhance the clinical use of cisplatin chemotherapy without any side effects.

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