Priming reduces the bone marrow toxicity of carboplatin

A dose of 170 mg/kg of carboplatin is lethal in mice, death occurring through bone marrow failure. This lethality can be avoided by giving the animals 200 mg/kg cyclophosphamide 1 or 2 days before this dose of carboplatin. The improved normal tissue tolerance cannot be explained by altered pharmacokinetics of carboplatin. Increased survival appears to be associated with a more rapid regeneration of the haemopoietic stem cells. Tumour tissue is not protected in the same way and thus a therapeutic gain can be achieved using this protocol.