The future role of carboplatin

In the nonprotocol, clinical arena, carboplatin is supplanting cisplatin due to its more favorable toxicity profile and lower overall cost. A review of the presentations from "The Role of Platinum Compounds in Cancer Treatment" (February 24 to 28, 1993, Kona, Hawaii) suggests that carboplatin can replace cisplatin for dose-intensification studies and treatment of ovarian cancer. Carboplatin (rather than cisplatin) is recommended for chemotherapy of palliative or noncurative intent (ie, for most solid tumors where cisplatin has activity), for the reasons mentioned above. In potentially curative settings (eg, testicular cancer) and in combination with radiation, results obtained with carboplatin are less clear and further study will be required.