Strategies for Prevention of Toxicity Caused by Platinum‐Based Chemotherapy: Review and Summary of the Annual Meeting of the Blood–Brain Barrier Disruption Program, Gleneden Beach, Oregon, March 10, 2001

Abstract

The dose-limiting side effects of platinum-based chemotherapy are preventable, but questions about the effect of the protective agents on oncological efficacy remain. Strategies for prevention of chemotherapy-induced toxicity include temporal or anatomical separation of cisplatin or carboplatin from sodium thiosulfate, D-methionine, or N-acetyl-cysteine. Clinical application of these methods has begun. The mechanisms presumably involve free radicals or drug conjugation, or both. Understanding the role of free radicals in medicine is likely to become important in the future.