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What Is Platinum Chemotherapy?

Chemotherapy is a drug-based treatment used to fight a wide variety of cancers. Platinum chemotherapy uses platinum-based drugs to fight particular forms of cancer and lower the potential for certain treatment side effects.

  1. Platinum Drugs

    • Doctors typically use three platinum chemotherapy drugs: cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin (oxalaplatin), according to the American Cancer Society. These medications achieve their effects by altering DNA strands inside cancer cells, according to the Merck Manuals Online Medical Library (MMOML).

    Cisplatin

    • The MMOML cites uses of cisplatin that include the treatment of breast, bladder, testicular, head, neck, lung and gastric cancers. Potential side effects include bone marrow abnormalities (myelosuppression), anemia, hearing damage and peripheral neuropathy (nerve damage).

    Carboplatin

    • The MMOML cites uses of carboplatin that include the treatment of ovarian, lung and breast cancers. Potential side effects include myelosuppression and peripheral neuropathy.

    Oxaliplatin

    • The MMOML cites use of oxaliplatin in the treatment of colon cancer. Potential side effects include nerve damage-related throat pain, peripheral neuropathy and myelosuppression.

    Considerations

    • The effects of platinum drugs are similar to those of a class of drugs called alkylating agents, which includes alkyl sulfonates, triazines and nitrogen mustards, the ACS reports. However, use of platinum drugs provides a decreased risk of chemotherapy-induced leukemia when compared to these compounds.

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