Oxaliplatin

Oxaliplatin, sold under the brand name Eloxatin, is a cancer medication used to treat colorectal cancer. Often it is used together with fluorouracil and folinic acid (leucovorin) in advanced cancer. It is given by injection into a vein. Oxaliplatin, sold under the brand name Eloxatin, is a cancer medication used to treat colorectal cancer. Often it is used together with fluorouracil and folinic acid (leucovorin) in advanced cancer. It is given by injection into a vein. Common side effects include numbness, feeling tired, nausea, diarrhea, and low blood cell counts. Other serious side effects include allergic reactions. Use in pregnancy is known to harm the baby. Oxaliplatin is in the platinum-based antineoplastic family of medications. It is believed to work by blocking the duplication of DNA. Oxaliplatin was patented in 1976 and approved for medical use in 1996. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, the most effective and safe medicines needed in a health system. The wholesale cost in the developing world is 8.74 to 125.43 USD a vial. In the United Kingdom it costs the NHS 299.50 pounds per 100 mg dose. Oxaliplatin is used for treatment of colorectal cancer, typically along with folinic acid and 5-fluorouracil in a combination known as FOLFOX. Oxaliplatin has been compared with other platinum compounds used for advanced cancers, such as cisplatin and carboplatin. Oxaliplatin by itself has modest activity against advanced colorectal cancer. When compared with just 5-fluorouracil and folinic acid administered according to the de Gramont regimen, a FOLFOX4 regime produced no significant increase in overall survival, but did produce an improvement in progression-free survival, the primary end-point of the phase III randomized trial. After and/or before the curative resection of colorectal cancer, chemotherapy based on 5-fluorouracil and folinic acid reduces the risk of relapse. The benefit is clinically relevant when cancer has spread to locoregional lymph nodes or penetrated through the wall of the rectum or colon (stage III, Dukes C). The addition of oxaliplatin improves relapse-free survival, but data on overall survival have not yet been published in extenso. When cancer has not spread to the locoregional lymph nodes, nor penetrated through the wall of the rectum or colon (stage II, Dukes B) the benefit of chemotherapy is marginal and the decision on whether to give adjuvant chemotherapy should be carefully evaluated by discussing with the patient the realistic benefits and the possible toxic side effects of treatment. This is even more relevant when the oncologist proposes treatment with oxaliplatin.