Science / Medicine : Chemotherapy Danger Cited
<i> Compiled from Times staff and wire reports</i>
Chemotherapy apparently can cause blood clots, thus suggesting a need to find ways to reduce the potentially deadly side effect, researchers say.
Dr. Mark N. Levine and his colleagues at the Ontario Cancer Treatment and Research Foundation in Canada studied 205 women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer.
The researchers found that about 7% of the women experienced blood clots while receiving chemotherapy, compared to none while they were not.
Levine said the findings, published in a recent issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, indicate that perhaps drugs that thin the blood or other measures should be used during chemotherapy to reduce the chances of blood clots developing.
