Carboplatin

Carboplatin is a chemotherapy drug used against some forms of cancer (mainly ovarian carcinoma, lung, head and neck cancers). It was introduced in the late 1980s and has since gained popularity in clinical treatment due to its vastly reduced side-effects compared to its parent compound cisplatin. Cisplatin and carboplatin, as well as oxaliplatin, interact with DNA, akin to the mechanism of alkylating agents. Carboplatin was discovered and develop... more

Carboplatin is a chemotherapy drug used against some forms of cancer (mainly ovarian carcinoma, lung, head and neck cancers). It was introduced in the late 1980s and has since gained popularity in clinical treatment due to its vastly reduced side-effects compared to its parent compound cisplatin. Cisplatin and carboplatin, as well as oxaliplatin, interact with DNA, akin to the mechanism of alkylating agents. Carboplatin was discovered and developed at the Institute of Cancer Research in London. Bristol-Myers Squibb gained Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for carboplatin, under the brand name Paraplatin, in March 1989. Starting in October 2004, generic versions of the drug became available. Carboplatin differs from cisplatin in that it has a bidentate dicarboxylate (CBDCA) ligand as its leaving group instead of the more labile chloride ligands. It exhibits lower reactivity and slower DNA binding kinetics, though it forms the same reaction products in vitro at equivalent... less