Story: Antioxidant can relieve chemo side effects
Dogs with chemo
Antioxidant can relieve chemo side effects
07:41 AM CDT on Monday, May 29, 2006
By Shawn Messonnier
Dear Dr. Shawn: My dog was recently diagnosed with bone cancer. One of the chemotherapy drugs his doctor wants to use is something called "doxo." A side effect of this drug is a heart attack. Would you recommend I give him this or see if another chemo drug might be better?
Answer: The drug you mentioned, "doxo," is short for doxorubicin (also called Adriamycin). It is a potent form of chemotherapy that is useful for treating a variety of cancers.
While usually safe, it has potential side effects. The major side effect of doxorubicin is heart toxicity; the higher the dose, the greater the chance of toxicity.
However, supplementation can help prevent this problem. Coenzyme Q-10 is used in cancer treatment to minimize heart toxicity from doxorubicin. (Other chemotherapy medications also can cause heart toxicity.)
Doxorubicin produces oxidizing agents (free radicals). Coenzyme Q-10 combats this free- radical damage to the heart when given after chemotherapy is completed.
However, it should not be used during doxorubicin treatment, as it may worsen heart toxicity.
While other drugs may also be useful, I would follow your oncologist's recommendations.
Using doxorubicin is acceptable, but certainly consider using coenzyme Q-10 (at 1 mg/pound per day) to limit heart problems that may occur.
Send questions to Dr. Shawn Messonnier at Paws & Claws Animal Hospital, 2145 W. Park, Plano TX, 75075 or naturalvet@juno .com.