Measures of renal function in patients with cisplatin-related chronic renal disease

Twenty-seven patients with advanced stage refractory ovarian cancer were studied to determine if chronic stable cisplatin-related renal dysfunction was present. Medical histories were examined to determine the types of therapy previously received as well as the total previous platinum doses received that ranged from 200 to 2,100 mg/m2. Standard assessments of renal function were made prior to administering current chemotherapy or immunotherapy to the patient, which included 24-hour creatinine clearance, serum creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen (BUN). For patients with a 24-hour creatinine clearance of less than 60 mL/minute, serum creatinine was highly variable (range: 0.9 to 2.0 mg/dL) and was not related to the degree of diminution in the 24-hour creatinine clearance value. Conversely, for patients with a serum creatinine of less than 1.5, the 24-hour creatinine clearance values varied by almost three-fold, ranging between 46 and 120 mL/minute. Two patients with serum creatinines of less than 1 had creatinine clearances of less than 50 mL per minute. Similarly, BUN measurements did not correlate with 24-hour creatinine clearance values, and the 24-hour creatinine clearance value was not related to the total cumulative platinum dose. We conclude that patients who receive substantive doses of cisplatin may experience chronic stable cisplatin-related renal dysfunction and that serum creatinine cannot be relied on to assess the degree of renal compromise. In such patients, we recommended that the 24-hour creatinine clearance value should be used when medical management is influenced by renal function.