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Cisplatin is a widely used and effective chemotherapeutic agent but well-known for also causing hearing loss or ototoxicity. However, there is currently no available blood-based biomarker test to evaluate the onset of ototoxicity in patients undergoing cisplatin. Diagnostic blood tests are easy to obtain and non-invasive and can provide critical information for treatment, intervention, and even prevention of downstream pathology. Several animal studies have shown outer hair cell electromotility protein prestin to be a promising biomarker for ototoxicity, however it has yet to be applied in human studies. Our hypothesis is that prestin may present as a measurable and specific serological biomarker for early detection of ototoxicity secondary to cisplatin chemotherapy. Our specific aim is to determine a temporal relationship between prestin levels and cisplatin treatment.
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