Neutrophils Could be a Promising Target for Kidney Failure Treatment in Cancer Patients

A recent research suggests neutrophils could be a promising target for developing therapies to treat kidney failure in cancer patients.

Highlights:

Kidney failure is a frequent and common complication in cancer patients.
Scientists have found neutrophils to be a promising target for treating kidney failure in cancer patients.
Inhibiting the enzyme GSK484 could be effective in preventing the formation of NETs in the mouse and human neutrophils in test tubes.

In more than 50% of the cancer patients, kidney dysfunction is turning out to be a common complication that has been directly linked to poor survival. However, the reason behind kidney failure in cancer patients is still unknown.

A research team from the Uppsala University has found kidney dysfunction to be mainly caused by the patient’s own immune system which activates the tumor.

‘Inhibiting the enzyme GSK484 that targets the neutrophils to form neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) could help in treating the kidney failure in cancer patients.’

The research study has been published in the journal Oncoimmunology.

The study findings suggest neutrophils (a type of white blood cell) to be a promising target for developing future therapies to treat kidney injury in cancer patients.

How Neutrophils Play A Role
Neutrophil cells are a type of white blood cells that play an important role in the immune system to protect against infections.

Patients With Kidney Failure At High Risk Of Developing Different Types Of Cancer
Understanding a variety of factors that are linked to cancer risk can help prevent cancer and screening decisions for patients and can provide insights into the underlying causes of cancer.

Cancerous tumors may trick the neutrophils to become activated even in the absence of infections, and as a result, this would lead to the progression of the disease and tissue damage.

Anna-Karin Olsson, researcher at the Departmental of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology at Uppsala University, said, "We have previously demonstrated that neutrophils form so called neutrophil extracellular traps, NETs, in the vasculature of mice with cancer, which cause impaired blood flow and inflammation in organs such as kidneys. Our new findings show that this leads to decreased kidney function in mice with cancer."

Top 10 Alarming Facts on Kidney Disease
The incidence of kidney failure (or chronic kidney disease) has doubled over the last 15 years. Here are some alarming facts on kidney disease.

The kidney damage in mice was found to resemble the damage that was observed in humans. This suggested Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) to be the cause of the kidney dysfunction in humans also.

Restoring Kidney Function in Cancer Patients
The research study revealed treatment that could restore the kidney function in mice with cancer.

Acute Renal (Kidney) Failure- Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment and Complications
Acute renal failure is the sudden cessation of the functioning of kidneys, that can be due to reduced renal blood flow, damage to renal tissues.

Neutrophils require an enzyme called peptidyl arginine deiminase 4 (PAD4) to form neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) which cause kidney dysfunction. Therefore, inhibiting the enzyme PAD4 could remove the NETs and restore the kidney functions.

Although, previous studies show inhibitor (GSK484) to be effective in preventing the formation of NETs in the mouse and human neutrophils in test tubes.

This research study is one of its kind to depict the potential of GSK484 inhibitor to prevent the kidney damage in mice with cancer.

Jessica Cedervall, researcher at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology at Uppsala University, said, "We believe that these findings can lead to novel treatment options to prevent kidney damage and improve survival rates in cancer patients."

Renal Failure in Cancer Patients
Kidney failure is a common complication in cancer patients. Acute renal failure has potential dangers in allowing the patients to receive optimal treatment.

Some of the risk factors for kidney injury in cancer patients include

Old age
Chronic kidney disease
Sepsis
Exposure to nephrotoxins
Obstruction in physiology

References

Acute renal failure in cancer patients. - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15902843)
Acute Kidney Injury in the Cancer Patient - (http://www.ackdjournal.org/article/S1548-5595%2813%2900123-7/abstract)

Source-Medindia