Glutathione Helps Reduce Side Effects of
Oxaliplatin-Based Therapy in Advanced Colorectal Patients
(Yahoo News, 3/28/03)

Patients with advanced colorectal cancer who undergo treatment with the chemotherapy drug, oxaliplatin, often suffer peripheral neuropathy, a condition characterized by the loss of sensation or neurological dysfunction of the hands and feet. According to a report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, European researchers studied 52 colorectal cancer patients who were being treated with oxaliplatin. When the researchers gave some subjects glutathione (GSH) and the rest a placebo concurrent with their chemotherapy, they found that, after 8 courses of chemotherapy, peripheral neuropathy affected 79% of the patients receiving the placebo; but only 43% of those taking glutathione. Furthermore, none of the patients taking glutathione experienced the extreme neurotoxicity that occurred in 26% of the placebo group. The scientists speculate that GSH minimizes the side effects of the oxaliplatin by preventing the buildup of the toxic byproducts that the drug creates.