What is carboplatin?

Carboplatin is used together with other cancer medications to treat ovarian cancer.

Carboplatin may also be used for other purposes not listed in this medication guide.

What is the most important information I should know about carboplatin?

Before receiving carboplatin, tell your doctor if you have liver or kidney disease, or if you have received carboplatin in the past.

Carboplatin can harm your kidneys, and this effect is increased when you also use certain other medicines harmful to the kidneys. Before you receive carboplatin, tell your doctor about all other medications you use. Many other drugs (including some over-the-counter medicines) can be harmful to the kidneys.

Carboplatin can lower blood cells that help your body fight infections. This can make it easier for you to bleed from an injury or get sick from being around others who are ill. Your blood may need to be tested often. Visit your doctor regularly.
Call your doctor if you have a serious side effect such as pale skin, easy bruising or bleeding, fever, chills, body aches, flu symptoms, mouth sores, hearing or vision problems, numbness or tingling, feeling short of breath, or muscle weakness.

You may need to receive blood transfusions while you are being treated with carboplatin.

What should I discuss with my healthcare provider before receiving carboplatin?

If you have any of these other conditions, you may need a dose adjustment or special tests:

liver disease;
kidney disease;
a weak immune system; or
if you have received carboplatin in the past.

FDA pregnancy category D. Do not use carboplatin if you are pregnant. It could harm the unborn baby. Use effective birth control, and tell your doctor if you become pregnant during treatment. It is not known whether carboplatin passes into breast milk or if it could harm a nursing baby. You should not breast-feed while being treated with carboplatin.

How is carboplatin given?

Carboplatin is usually given once every 4 weeks. Follow your doctor's instructions.

You may be given other medications to prevent nausea or vomiting while you are receiving carboplatin.
Carboplatin can lower blood cells that help your body fight infections. This can make it easier for you to bleed from an injury or get sick from being around others who are ill. Your blood may need to be tested often. Your kidney and liver function may also need to be tested. Visit your doctor regularly.

You may need to receive blood transfusions while you are being treated with carboplatin.

What happens if I miss a dose?

What happens if I overdose?

What should I avoid while using carboplatin?

Carboplatin side effects

pale skin, feeling light-headed or short of breath, rapid heart rate, trouble concentrating;
easy bruising, unusual bleeding (nose, mouth, vagina, or rectum), purple or red pinpoint spots under your skin;
fever, chills, body aches, flu symptoms, sores in your mouth and throat;
severe or ongoing vomiting;
stomach pain, dark urine, clay-colored stools, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes);
numbness or tingly feeling in your hands or feet;
hearing or vision problems;
skin changes where the medicine was injected; or
low magnesium (confusion, uneven heart rate, jerking muscle movements, muscle weakness or limp feeling).

Less serious side effects may include:

nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite;
tired feeling;
temporary hair loss; or
pain, swelling or redness where the medicine was injected.

This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects.

Carboplatin Dosing Information

Single agent therapy for use in the treatment of recurrent ovarian cancer:
360 mg/m2 by intravenous injection on day 1 every 4 weeks (alternatively, the carboplatin dose may be calculated by the Calvert formula below). In general, however, single intermittent courses of carboplatin should not be repeated until the neutrophil count is at least 2000 and the platelet count is at least 100,000.

Combination therapy (with cyclophosphamide) for use in the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer (an effective combination for previously untreated patients):

carboplatin 300 mg/m2 by intravenous injection on day 1 every four weeks for six cycles (alternatively, the carboplatin dose may be calculated by the Calvert formula below).

cyclophosphamide 600 mg/m2 by intravenous injection. on day 1 every 4 weeks for six cycles.

Intermittent courses of carboplatin in combination with cyclophosphamide should not be repeated until the neutrophil count is at least 2000 and the platelet count is at least 100,000.

Calvert formula: Another approach for determining the initial dose of carboplatin is the use of the following mathematical formula, which is based on a patient's preexisting renal function or renal function and desired platelet nadir. (Renal excretion is the major route of elimination for carboplatin.) The use of this dosing formula, as compared to empirical dose calculation based on body surface area, allows compensation for patient variations in pretreatment renal function that might otherwise result in either underdosing (in patients with above average renal function) or overdosing (in patients with impaired renal function).

A simple formula for calculating dosage, based upon a patient's glomerular filtration rate (GFR in mL/min) and carboplatin target area under the concentration versus time curve (AUC in mg/mL/min), has been proposed by Calvert.

Calvert formula for carboplatin dosing: Total Dose (mg)=(target AUC) × (GFR + 25)
Note: With the Calvert formula, the total dose of carboplatin is calculated in mg, not mg/m2 .

The target AUC of 4-6 mg/mL/min using single agent carboplatin appears to provide the most appropriate dose range in previously treated patients.

Usual Adult Dose for Cervical Cancer:

(In combination with other chemotherapeutic agents as a part of the BIC regimen)
200 mg/m2 IV on day 1
The cycle is repeated every 21 days.

Usual Pediatric Dose for Malignant Disease:

Pediatric Calvert Formula:
Total dose (mg) = [Target AUC (mg/mL/min)] x [GFR (mL/min) + (0.36 x body weight in kg)]

Note: With the Calvert formula, the total dose of carboplatin is calculated in mg, not mg/m2 .

The target AUC varies with the number of agents in the regimen and if the patient has been treated previously or not.

Solid Tumor:
300-600 mg/m2 once every 4 weeks.

Brain Tumor:
175 mg/m2 once weekly for 4 weeks with a 2 week recovery between courses. The dose should then be adjusted based on platelet and neutrophil count values.

Bone Marrow Transplant Preparative Regimen:
500 mg/m2/day for 3 days.

What other drugs will affect carboplatin?

medicines to treat a bowel disorder;
medication to prevent organ transplant rejection;
antiviral medications;
pain or arthritis medicines; or
any injected antibiotics.

This list is not complete and other drugs may interact with drugname. Tell your doctor about all medications you use. This includes prescription, over-the-counter, vitamin, and herbal products. Do not start a new medication without telling your doctor.

Where can I get more information?