ENCORE #66! – Cytoxan!!! What’s It DO???

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…That was four years ago – as time passed, people searching for answers stumbled across my blog and checked out what I had to say. The following entry appeared in November of 2011.

Though I talked very briefly some time ago about what the various chemotherapy drugs that my wife was treated with were “for”, I never really went into any kind of detail.

Now that chemo is “over”, I wanted to explore what some of the long-term and lasting effects of the treatment are. Because she reached that time – what with the odd numbing of her upper lip, the incision pains, swollen ankles and dry skin, I’d like to know which of those things is chemo-derived and which ones are not.

So we’ll g0 here next:

Cytoxan is the “third” drug of the cocktail she was force fed through the tubes and into her port every three weeks for six months. “Cytoxan is a cyclophosphamide that has been converted into a non-toxic ‘transport form’. This transport form is a ‘pro-drug’, subsequently actively transported into the cancer cells. Once in the cells, enzymes convert the drug into the active, toxic form that kills the cancer cell.”

Plain English, please!

OK – first stunning surprise is that Cytoxan is a cytotoxic chemotherapy agent similar to mustard gas.

Although used today as anti-cancer drugs, they can theoretically also be used for chemical warfare. Nitrogen mustards add chlorine atoms to the DNA of cancer cells, in effect poisoning the cancer cell.

Mustard gas was stockpiled by several nations during the Second World War, but it was never used in combat. Mustard gas and its related compounds are strong and long-lasting blister agents. Production and use is restricted.

How did we get from WWII mustard gas to anti-breast cancer drugs? During WWII nitrogen mustard gases were studied at Yale University and classified human clinical trials of nitrogen mustards for the treatment of cancer started in December 1942. Also during WWII, an incident during the air raid on Bari, Italy led to the release of mustard gas that affected several hundred soldiers and civilians. Medical examination of the survivors showed a decreased number of white blood cells. After WWII was over, the Bari incident and a Yale study came together prompting a search for other similar compounds. The nitrogen mustard became the first chemotherapy drug mustine.

Many people taking cytoxan do have serious side effects like nausea, vomit, bone marrow suppression, stomach ache, diarrhea, darkening of the skin/nails, hair loss or thinning of hair, changes in color and texture of the hair, and lethargy. Cytoxan can cause cancer, it can lower the body's ability to fight an infection as well as lead to an unusual decrease in the amount of urine, mouth sores, unusual tiredness or weakness, joint pain, easy bruising/bleeding. As well, existing wounds are slow healing.

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