Carboplatin Vs Cicplatin

Hi everyone

 My brother in law has been fighting nasopharyngeal cancer for about 7 years now. I dont think he ever really got rid of it because it came back three times. this beibng the third his only option is chemo. He has had his  quota of radiation for the rest of his life. He is a 59 year old man and tough as nails. He started on a regimen of xeloda pills which he took for about a year. Obviously they didnt do the job since they saw a tumor near his carotid artery(no surgery because dangerous) and one in back of it. He started his chemo treatment once again but on cisplatin (itravenious). after the first treatment they found it was affecting his kidneys so they had to change the chemo to carboplatin?. (please excuse the spelling) I read that the carboplatin when given for head and neck cancer is maybe 45% less effective than cisplatin. Does anyone know anything about this? I would truly appreciate any comments or info. 

My husband is also a 4 year survivor (going on five)of nasopharyngeal cancer which was caught at a very early stage (Thank God) He had radiation (IMRT) and chemo and at this point is doing just fine.

Thank you all

Denise

Hi Denise...

My husband had stage 3 tonsil cancer last year and had both the cisplatin and carbo/taxol.  He had the one large round of cisplatin (meant to be one of 3 rounds) but after that first round, his ears started to ring, so he switched to carbo/taxol (smaller, weekly rounds).

From what we were told, cisplatin travels thru your system and kills off cancer cells throughout the body.  We were told the carbo/taxol doesn't do that.  We were told that the carbo/taxol would only help the radiation do a better job, and that taking carbo/taxol without the radiation might not do anything at all. 

I do know that there are medications out there that they can give during chemo to protect the kidneys. He may want to ask about that.  I know that when my husband was on the carbo/taxol he started to pass very small blood clots in his urine (more than likely the taxol and not the carbo), so he chose to stop the chemo one week shy of the end of radiation.  We didn't know about the meds for protecting the kidneys until after his treatment ended.

As for carboplatin on head and neck cancers, the studies on this are brand new.  The side effects are less, but I don't know about survival rates and how they differ from those that had cisplatin.

- Amy

What are the chances, statiscally, of your husband and brother both having NPC?  It occurs in less than 1% of cancers in USA.  What do they have in common and has this been addressed?  I think Johns Hopkins would be quite interested.

My husband is about to complete chemoradiography for stage 4 NPC with two lymph gland involvement.  He is fairing extremely well.  From what I know with our consults at Johns Hopkins, NPC protocol is 170mg cisplatin x 3 (sometimes 5 FU to accelerate) during 36 IMRT treatments.  Follow up chemo x 2 - one week each with cisplatin and 5 FU for five days and four night continuous drip.  I verified this with the director of Otolaryngology at Hopkins and National Cancer Institute, both who have and are doing clinicals on NPC.  Seems the only protocol for now.

As for carboplatin, it has never been mentioned as a solution for my husband.  Not sure I am qualified to comment on that.  I would definitely seek a second opinion.

Blessings for good health to you and your family members.

My husband had to switch from Cisplatin to Carboplatin this week due to to ototoxicity (his hearing was affected by the Cisplatin).  Instead of getting his third dose of Cisplatin, they gave him 4 daily doses of Carboplatin.  The doctor said it was not as "strong" as Cisplatin and that there have been no true studies on the efficacy of Carboplatin in NPC.  But, the way we look at is is that it is still toxic on cancer cells and it works fabulously on many types of cancer - so when forced with either no treatment, going deaf to continue with Cisplatin or changing to Carboplatin - the answer was clear!  Remember that much of cancer treatment is in attitude - if he thinks that this won't work - it most likely won't!  I cannot believe how much the power of suggestion helps during cancer treatment! (and can hurt if he is very negative about it).

I know that this is not the specific info you asked for but know that others have had to go through th Carbo route..... 

On 3/8/2008 littlecoomz wrote:

My husband had to switch from Cisplatin to Carboplatin this week due to to ototoxicity (his hearing was affected by the Cisplatin).  Instead of getting his third dose of Cisplatin, they gave him 4 daily doses of Carboplatin.  The doctor said it was not as "strong" as Cisplatin and that there have been no true studies on the efficacy of Carboplatin in NPC.  But, the way we look at is is that it is still toxic on cancer cells and it works fabulously on many types of cancer - so when forced with either no treatment, going deaf to continue with Cisplatin or changing to Carboplatin - the answer was clear!  Remember that much of cancer treatment is in attitude - if he thinks that this won't work - it most likely won't!  I cannot believe how much the power of suggestion helps during cancer treatment! (and can hurt if he is very negative about it).

I know that this is not the specific info you asked for but know that others have had to go through th Carbo route..... 

 

My husband was diagnosed with nasopharyngeal cancer stage 4a five weeks ago. He had chemo (cisplatin) 6 days ago and woke up with profound hearing loss in both ears (already had it in the tumor side - but now is worse). They diagnosed ototoxicity this afternoon and said will have to change to carboplatin. Any info about effectiveness of carboplatin?? He was horribly nauseated on cisplatin from beginning even with multiple IV meds and Zofran, Compazin and Phenergan by mouth. I am frantic and still in shock from the initial diagnosis. Any information may help with discussion with doctors. His next chemo is scheduled for 4-17-08. Any help is appreciated.