Mechanisms of resistance to cisplatin

Abstract

Cisplatin has become a major clinical drug because of its proven efficacy against many tumors. It exhibits excellent activity against testicular tumors and is responsible for remission rates of about 50% in ovarian cancer. It is also used in combination chemotherapy for a variety of other tumors. As with all anticancer drugs, many tumors are inherently resistant to the therapy or acquire resistance after an initial treatment. Because of the high remission rate in ovarian tumors, this disease has become noted for the high incidence of recurrent tumors. It is quite possible that the mechanisms of inherent and acquired resistance are one and the same, but evidence for this requires further research.