[Comparative studies of the ototoxicity of cisplatin and carboplatin]

The application of the potent anticancer drug cisplatin is limited by major side effects such as its ototoxicity and its nephrotoxicity. Since carboplatin has been introduced into clinical use, a platinum derivative with less pronounced ototoxicity and nephrotoxicity is available. The aim of this study was to quantify the ototoxicity of carboplatin comparing it to cisplatin using the wellknown guinea-pig model. Using morphological and functional methods it could be shown that the ototoxic damage was by far higher in a group which had received a total dose of 12 kg cisplatin/kg than in a group which had received a dosage of 90 mg carboplat/kg. Our investigations show that the ototoxic potential of cisplatin in the guinea-pig is more than 9 times higher than that of carboplatin.