Platinum and Other Heavy Metal Compounds in Cancer Chemotherapy

Cisplatin, the first member of the family of platinum-containing chemotherapeutic agents, was discovered by Barnett Rosenberg in 1965 and approved by the FDA for marketing in 1978. After 30 years of use in the clinic, cisplatin remains a central element of many treatment regimens. Cisplatin is still an irreplaceable component of a regimen that produces high cure rates in even advanced nonseminomatous germ-cell cancers, and is widely used in the treatment of ovarian cancers and other gynecologic