A research team at the University of Rochester, New York discovered that common chemotherapy drugs damage more healthy brain cells than cancer cells.

The study, published in the Journal of Biology, found that with normal clinical doses of  carmustine, cisplatin and cytosine arabinoside, they were more toxic to neural cells than to the cancer cells they targeted. The drugs killed 70-100% of brain cells, vs. only 40-80% of the cancer cells.

The study further indicated that chemotherapy can cause long-term brain damage, strengthening scientists’ theory of "chemo brain", or neurological side effects some 4 out of 5 chemotherapy patients would encounter, such as loss of memory, loss of vision, seizures and sometimes dementia.

A study released in October by the University of California at Los Angeles medical school showed that chemotherapy can provoke changes in a person's metabolism and blood flow in the brain for at least 10 years after the treatment has ended.

Source: AFP Wed Nov 29 2006

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