General Chemistry Curriculum Supplement: Cisplatin

NEWS: June 22, 2005 Cisplatin and Lung Cancer: Cisplatin chemotherapy now recognized for dramatic lengthening of survival for some common types of lung cancer. Read through this unit for a description of cisplatin science

Index:
1. Effects of Electrical Fields on e. coli
2. Control Experiments
3. Redox Chemistry
4. Electrochemistry
5. Role of Platinum Electrodes
6. Transition Metal Chemistry
7. Bioinorganic Chemistry
8. Discovery of Cisplatin
9. The Discovery: One Scientist's Story
10. Chemistry Research as a Career
11. Cisplatin as an Anticancer Drug
12. Mode of Action of Cisplatin
13. Recent Developments
14. DNA
15. FDA Drug Approval Process
16. Profits
17. Drug Resistance
18. Toxic Side Effects
19. Cancer
20. Other Treatments for Cancer

Sometimes the principles of chemistry are embedded in another science. Sometimes it is not obvious that chemistry is at the heart of invention. The story of the invention of the anticancer drug cisplatin is a story of chemistry hidden in the science of biology.

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We begin our story with an experiment designed to elucidate the effect of electric fields on the bacterial growth of E. coli. The serendipitous result of this experiment was that it was not the electric fields that inhibited bacterial growth but rather a platinum containing complex that later came to be known as cisplatin.

A group of researchers at Michigan State University subsequently found that cisplatin could also be used to inhibit the growth of cancer cells. For the past twenty years, cisplatin has proven to be highly effective for the treatment of various cancers, particularly testicular cancer.

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Unfortunately, toxicity and drug resistance have become serious concerns, and research efforts continue in the hope of improving this drug. In studying this case, you will do the following: