THE PET PHARMACY By Wendy C. Brooks, DVM, DipABVP Educational Director, VeterinaryPartner.com

(for veterinary information only)

(Also called cis-Platinum II, cis-DDP, CDDP, DDP, or cis-diamminedichloroplatinum)

Background

Cancer is the condition where a significant number of malignant cells have defeated the body’s natural protective mechanisms and have proliferated.

Malignant cells are dangerous because they have reverted to characteristics typical of embryonic cells. Instead of doing the jobs that normal cells of their tissue type are supposed to do, they simply divide rapidly over and over and ultimately obliterate the normal tissue from whence they originated. Often they invade local lymphatic or blood vessels so as to spread to distant body areas and set up new cancerous areas far from where they originally started.

If a group of cancer cells is localized to one area it may be possible to surgically remove them, but treatment is more difficult if they have spread.  For this situation, we need medications that selectively kill cancer cells and leave normal cells alone.  We can use the body’s own bloodstream to carry these medications to all the distant sites where cancer may have set up. This kind of treatment is called chemotherapy.

Most chemotherapy drugs target the fact that cancer cells are rapidly dividing and interfere with cell division.  It is not known exactly how cisplatin attacks cancer cells.

How this Medication is Used

Cisplatin is only used intravenously. Administration requires a process called diuresis, which helps protect the patient’s kidneys from damage.  This means that your pet will have to be hospitalized on the day of treatment and receive intravenous fluids.

Tumors for which cisplatin are effective:

     •     Squamous cell carcinoma
 
     •     Transitional cell carcinoma
 
     •     Ovarian carcinoma
 
     •     Mediastinal carcinoma
 
     •     Osteosarcoma
 
     •     Nasal carcinoma
 
     •     Thyroid carcinoma

Side Effects

Nausea beginning six hours after treatment and persisting for another six hours is expected with use of cisplatin.

Cisplatin can cause kidney damage. Monitoring blood tests are done regularly so that therapy can be modified should kidney parameters elevate.

Bone marrow suppression can also occur on cisplatin.  Monitoring tests are also regularly performed to assess the counts of different blood cells.

Cisplatin can interfere with normal hearing by affecting the cochleovestibular nerve which controls hearing. (Cisplatin is what is called an ototoxic drug.)  In humans, a cisplatin-associated neuropathy has been described involving sensory nerve interference.  This has not been documented in dogs but several cases of dogs who developed nerve problems (lower motor neuron weakness) in their rear legs have been reported. It is not clear if this weakness was part of their cancer syndrome or related to the medication.

Concerns and Cautions

Cisplatin concentrates in the liver, intestines and kidneys and is still in the body six months after treatment, but 80% of it is eliminated in urine after 48 hours.

Cats are vulnerable to severe pulmonary (lung) side effects and cannot receive cisplatin.

Cisplatin cannot be used in patients with renal disease or bone marrow suppression.  Patients with renal disease can take another medication called carboplatin.

Cisplatin impairs fertility and causes birth defects.

It is our policy not to give dosing information over the Internet.
 

Date Published: 5/1/2002
Date Reviewed/Revised: 12/12/2008