Oxaliplatin

Oxaliplatin, sold under the brand name Eloxatin among others, is a cancer medication (platinum-based antineoplastic class) used to treat colorectal cancer. It is given by infusion into a vein.

Common side effects include numbness, feeling tired, nausea, diarrhea, and low blood cell counts. Other serious side effects include allergic reactions. Use in pregnancy is known to harm the baby. Oxaliplatin is in the platinum-based antineoplastic family of medications. It is believed to work by blocking the duplication of DNA.

Oxaliplatin was patented in 1976 in Japan and approved for medical use in 1996 in Europe. It is on the 2023 World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines.

Oxaliplatin is used for treatment of colorectal cancer, typically along with folinic acid (leucovorin) and fluorouracil in a combination known as FOLFOX or along with capecitabine in a combination known as CAPOX or XELOX. It also has uses in pancreatic cancer and stomach cancer or esophageal cancer. It may also be effective against breast cancer, germ cell tumor, ovarian cancer and non-small-cell lung cancer.

Oxaliplatin by itself has modest activity against advanced colorectal cancer. When compared with just 5-fluorouracil and folinic acid administered according to the de Gramont regimen, a FOLFOX4 regime produced no significant increase in overall survival, but did produce an improvement in progression-free survival, the primary end-point of the phase III randomized trial.

Side-effects of oxaliplatin treatment can potentially include:

In addition, some patients may experience an allergic reaction to platinum-containing drugs. This is more common in women.

Oxaliplatin has less ototoxicity and nephrotoxicity than cisplatin and carboplatin.