Background:

in advanced stages of non-small cell lung cancer, treatment is fundamentally based on polychemotherapy. Previous studies relate the development of resistance to cisplatin with increased levels of cellular glutathione, while depletion of this tripeptide has been associated with greater sensitivity to this drug.

Objective:

to evaluate the effect of polychemotherapy with cisplatin and vinblastine on intracellular glutathione levels and cellular redox status in patients with non-small cell lung cancer in advanced stages.

Methods:

a case-control study was carried out that included 38 patients with non-small cell lung cancer in stages IIIb-IV, who completed the treatment scheme with cisplatin and vinblastine, and 25 apparently healthy individuals as a control group from May 2016 to May 2018 at the Benéfico Jurídico Pneumological Hospital in Havana. The intraerythrocyte concentrations of reduced and oxidized glutathione were determined by an HPLC-UV method. The cellular redox state was calculated using the Nerst equation. The results were expressed as means and standard deviation. The non-parametric U-Mann Whitney test was used to compare the arithmetic means of the response variables.

Results:

after treatment, a decrease in reduced glutathione concentrations (920 µM vs. 1252 µM; p=0.036) was observed, as well as changes in the cellular redox state (-338.4 mV vs.-53.2 mV; p=0.029) in contrast to controls.

Conclusions:

chemotherapy combined with cisplatin induces a decrease in reduced glutathione levels and changes in the cellular redox state. These effects may contribute to increased survival in patients who respond to treatment.

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