Noah received his first bag of Cisplatin last night.  This is one of the three chemo drugs that he will be receiving.  I thought I’d include a little information about this particular drug.

Cancerous tumors are characterized by cell division, which is no longer controlled as it is in normal tissue.   “Normal” cells stop dividing when they come into contact with like cells, a mechanism known as contact inhibition.  Cancerous cells lose this ability.  Cancer cells no longer have the normal checks and balances in place that control and limit cell division.  The process of cell division, whether normal or cancerous cells, is through the cell cycle.  The cell cycle goes from the resting phase, through active growing phases, and then to mitosis (division).

The ability of chemotherapy to kill cancer cells depends on its ability to halt cell division.  Usually, the drugs work by damaging the RNA or DNA that tells the cell how to copy itself in division.  If the cells are unable to divide, they die.  The faster the cells are dividing, the more likely it is that chemotherapy will kill the cells, causing the tumor to shrink.  They also induce cell suicide (self-death or apoptosis).

Chemotherapy drugs that affect cells only when they are dividing are called cell-cycle specific.  Chemotherapy drugs that affect cells when they are at rest are called cell-cycle non-specific.  The scheduling of chemotherapy is set based on the type of cells, rate at which they divide, and the time at which a given drug is likely to be effective.  This is why chemotherapy is typically given in cycles.

Chemotherapy is most effective at killing cells that are rapidly dividing.  Unfortunately, chemotherapy does not know the difference between the cancerous cells and the normal cells. The “normal” cells will grow back and be healthy but in the meantime, side effects occur.  The “normal” cells most commonly affected by chemotherapy are the blood cells, the cells in the mouth, stomach and bowel, and the hair follicles; resulting in low blood counts, mouth sores, nausea, diarrhea, and/or hair loss.  Different drugs may affect different parts of the body. (source: http://www.chemocare.com/bio/cisplatin.asp)

Now that we have that out of the way…Noah seems to be doing well.  He’s still eating and drinking pretty well.  His appetite may go away some because of the drugs.  We’re not really looking forward to the side-effects.  I’m sure Noah will like them less than we do, but luckily he can’t really anticipate them.

We’re all doing pretty well right now.  Thanks to Rick for bringing socks…that helps out more than you can know.  Thanks to everyone who has offered support and prayer – it means so much to us. 

God bless,

Doug