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Cisplatin is one of a number of platinum coordination complexes with antitumour activity. The potential of this compound as an antitumour agent was recognised through an observation made by Barnett Rosenberg and co-workers. Their study had been designed to explore the possible effects of an electric field on the growth of Eschericia coli. They observed the bacteria growing in the form of long filaments, but unexpectedly, they ceased to divide. Months of rigorous equipment checks and testing ensured, to try and explain this phenomenon. It was not until a year later that the cause of the inhibition of bacterial division was pinpointed to an electrolysis product of the platinum electrode
¤. This accidental discovery soon initiated a series of investigations and studies into the effects of platinum compounds and cell division.
In 1970, further studies performed by Rosenburg and his colleagues revealed that these compounds displayed significant antitumour activity and demonstrated that diamminedichloroplatinum(II), specifically the cis isomer, was extremely effective against sarcoma 180 and L1210 leukemia in mice.
The efficacy of the platinum complex as an anticancer agent has now been established in a variety of animal tumour models and in human cancer. Although a number of platinum complexes have since been developed (eg., oxaliplatin and carboplatin), and shown to have antitumour properties, we will be focusing most of our attention on cisplatin.
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