A clinical trial led by Cancer Research UK funded researchers at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital, with contributions from OHSU in Portland, Oregon, has found that administering the drug sodium thiosulphate, or STS, following cisplatin to treat a form of pediatric liver cancer reduces hearing loss by nearly 50 percent without impeding the impact of the chemotherapy.
The findings published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The SIOPEL-6 trial is based on more than 20 years of preclinical research conducted by the study’s senior author Edward Neuwelt, M.D., and colleagues at OHSU. Penelope Brock, M.D., Ph.D., a pediatric consultant at GOSH, served as the trial’s principal investigator.
Using human and animal models, Neuwelt, a professor of neurology and neurological surgery in the OHSU School of Medicine, first determined that STS could prevent hearing loss caused by platinum-based chemotherapies. He and his team then determined that delaying the dosage of STS would avoid interference with the treatment’s impact on cancerous tumors.
“We are allowing young patients to have the best of both worlds: no cancer and little to no hearing loss that could cause difficulties with speech recognition, learning and social engagement,” said Neuwelt. “This advancement has the potential to impact other forms of pediatric cancers treated with platinum-based chemotherapy, as well. We look forward to the day when – following treatment – patients can be one step closer to just being kids.”
Based on the results of the SIOPEL-6 trial, the research team believes that STS should be considered a new standard of care for treating hepatoblastoma, as well as other childhood cancers where cisplatin is used. The treatment regimen has received breakthrough therapy designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and researchers are seeking marketing authorization from both the FDA and European Medicines Agency.
Additional findings of the SIOPEL-6 trial are available here.
The study was funded by Cancer Research UK and others; SIOPEL 6 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00652132; EudraCT number, 2007-002402-21.
In the interest of ensuring the integrity of our research and as part of our commitment to public transparency, OHSU actively regulates, tracks and manages relationships that our researchers may hold with entities outside of OHSU. In regards to this research, OHSU, the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the Department of Veterans Affairs have a financial interest in Fennec Pharmaceuticals, a company that may have a commercial interest in the results of this research and technology. Neuwelt, an inventor of technology licensed to Fennec Pharmaceuticals, has divested himself of all potential earnings. Review details of OHSU's conflict of interest program to find out more about how OHSU manages these business relationships.
About OHSU
OHSU is the only academic health center in Oregon and is nationally distinguished as a research university dedicated solely to advancing health sciences. This singular purpose allows us to focus on discoveries that prevent and cure disease, on education that prepares physicians, dentists, nurses and other health professionals for the evolving health care environment, and on patient care that incorporates the latest advances. Based in Portland, we are one of Oregon’s largest employers, operate the top-ranked adult and children’s hospitals in the state, and secure competitive research funding of more than $400 million. As a public organization, we also provide services for the most vulnerable Oregonians and outreach to improve health in communities across the state.
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