Platinum Chemotherapy Leaves Extensive Mutational Footprint in Children's Livers

Overview

• A multi‑institution study published Thursday in Science shows that platinum drugs used to treat childhood cancers cause large increases in DNA mutations across healthy tissues, with some livers showing mutation loads comparable to decades of ageing in adults.
• Researchers used an ultrasensitive duplex sequencing method called NanoSeq to analyze 186 samples from children treated for liver cancer and additional controls, enabling detection of rare therapy-linked mutations that earlier methods missed.
• The team identified a previously unseen, liver‑specific mutational signature that the authors say is plausibly linked to how cisplatin and carboplatin are metabolized in the liver.
• The analysis found some mutations classified as cancer drivers but the authors stress that secondary cancers after childhood treatment remain uncommon and that platinum chemotherapy is still essential for curing many pediatric cancers.
• Authors and outside commentators say the finding creates a biological basis for long‑term health effects in survivors and should drive mechanistic studies, development of tissue‑protective strategies, and targeted lifelong surveillance for treated children.