Cisplatin - A Drug that Helps to Cure Cancer

Cisplatin is a very generic name that is given to the drug Platinol® and Platinol®-AQ. Cisplatin is a drug that is associated to chemotherapy medication that is used to treat many forms of cancers.

The various type of cancers that this drug cures, includes testicular cancer, ovarian cancer, cervical cancer, breast cancer, bladder cancer, head and neck cancer, esophageal cancer, lung cancer, mesothelioma, neuroblastoma  and brain tumors.   Cisplatin is used by injection into a vein to the patient. It can only be injected; no pills have been made of Cisplatin yet. It is advisable to take extra precautions while injecting Cisplatin to the patients. It may affect kidney function if proper care is avoided before and/or after the cisplatin infusion. There are some common side effects of this drug like: Nausea and vomiting; Kidney toxicity; Ototoxicity; Blood test abnormalities; and Low blood counts. However, the onset, duration, and severity of Cisplatin can be predicted and at the same time they are quite manageable. There are many options available to help minimizing or preventing the side effects of the drug at the right time. Peripheral neuropathy; Loss of appetite; Taste changes; blood tests; and Hair loss are some of the side effects of Cisplatin that are seen in only 10-29% of the patients. The doctors must guide the patients about taking precautions before starting the treatment like avoiding aspirin or products containing aspirin, not taking any immunization or vaccination without approval of doctor, avoid pregnancy. It is also must to have a regular Monitoring and Testing While Taking Cisplatin. Usually, the drugs work by damaging the RNA or DNA that tells the cell how to increase the cell division.

By: Anita Aishvarya

Content: http://chemocare.com/chemotherapy/drug-info/cisplatin.aspx