Speciality: Band 6 Paeds Audiologist
Location: London
Duration: Temporary
Speciality: Band 6 Paeds Audiologist
Location: East Midlands
Duration: Temporary
Speciality: Band 6 Audiologist
Location: London
Duration: Temporary
Speciality: Band 6 Audiologist
Location: Kent and Medway
Duration: Temporary
Children at risk of hearing loss as a result of their cancer treatment may benefit from a new drug that can lessen that risk, according to a study.
A Cancer Research UK-funded team at Great Ormond Street Hospital have identified that sodium thiosulphate (STS), when administered after cisplatin chemotherapy, can reduce hearing loss by nearly 50 per cent in children treated for hepatoblastoma, a childhood liver cancer.
When children with liver cancer are treated with cisplatin, around two-thirds are left with permanent hearing loss, due to the drug remaining in and damaging the cochlea after being removed from the body.
For this study, 109 children were treated for their hepatoblastoma using either cisplatin alone, or cisplatin followed by STS six hours later. While 63 per cent of children given cisplatin alone suffered a degree of hearing loss, this dropped to 33 per cent for those also given STS, meaning their risk of this side effect was reduced by 48 per cent overall.
Moreover, it was shown that this resulted in no difference in overall survival rates or the risk of the cancer returning, meaning the chemotherapy treatment was just as effective when STS was used.
The team is now hoping to secure regulatory approval from the EU and US for STS to become part of a new standard of care for treating hepatoblastoma.
Dr Penelope Brock, trial lead and paediatric consultant at Great Ormond Street Hospital, said: "Even mild hearing loss can severely impact a child's future development; key consonants are heard at high frequencies like S, H and F, and their loss can be particularly difficult for children who haven't yet developed speech.
"This treatment combination could help ensure that parents aren't faced with an upsetting scenario where successful cancer treatment comes at the cost of their child's hearing."
Written by James Puckle
Contact Mediplacements for the latest audiology jobs and for information on overseas recruitment.
Following a healthy diet is always a good idea for a number of medical reasons, but it’s usually associated...
The link between hearing loss and dementia is not particularly well-known amongst the public, despite being...
The University of Utah will head up a team of researchers handed a $9.7m (£7.4m) grant to design and develop...
An update to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines means 890 more children...