Monday, October 13, 2008

Cisplatin is my friend!

One of my best friends has just recovered 100% from cancer because Cisplatin rocks. Here's a bit of inorganic chemistry courtesy of Wikipedia:

Cisplatin was first described by M. Peyrone in 1845 and this year it celebrates its 30th FDA approval anniversary. D!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I for one second that praise.

Anonymous said...

Good to hear your friend's better, but I still don't think too highly of Cisplatin. What I'm told, its side effects are no fun at all.

Would be nice if we had something as potent but less toxic. Doesn't seem to be an easy wish, though.

milkshake said...

there is caboplatin, developed to be a less toxic analogue that does not ruin the kidneys, and oxalplatin and picoplatin etc. Cis platin stil has a superior efficacy.

By the way the original anti-cancer compound identified by accident (anodic oxidation of Pt electrodes that were supposed to be inert) was actually Pt(IV), cis-Pt(NH3)2Cl4 - which is also very potent. The swich to Pt(II) was made because the original Pt(IV) complex had a very poor solubility.

Gerhard said...

I am about to write a term paper for Biochem that has to be 10-15 pages and i have chosen Cisplatin. I am also giving a speech in my organometallic class about it. I think it is a great coincidence that you wrote about it! Should be fun.

Anonymous said...

...it is the first medical treatment that involves a transition metal.