Health / Medical Topics |
Carboplatin
Pronunciation
Definition 1
A drug that is used to treat advanced ovarian cancer that has never been treated or symptoms of ovarian cancer that has come back after treatment with other anticancer drugs. It is also used with other drugs to treat advanced, metastatic, or recurrent non-small cell lung cancer and is being studied in the treatment of other types of cancer. Carboplatin is a form of the anticancer drug cisplatin and causes fewer side effects in patients. It attaches to DNA in cells and may kill cancer cells. It is a type of platinum compound. Also called Paraplatin. (NCI Dictionary)
Definition 2
A second-generation platinum compound with a broad spectrum of antineoplastic properties. Carboplatin contains a platinum atom complexed with two ammonia groups and a cyclobutane-dicarboxyl residue. This agent is activated intracellularly to form reactive platinum complexes that bind to nucleophilic groups such as GC-rich sites in DNA, thereby inducing intrastrand and interstrand DNA cross-links, as well as DNA-protein cross-links. These carboplatin-induced DNA and protein effects result in apoptosis and cell growth inhibition. This agent possesses tumoricidal activity similar to that of its parent compound, cisplatin, but is more stable and less toxic. (NCI Thesaurus)