INCIDENCE AND MANAGEMENT OF TREATMENT-RELATED SIDE EFFECTS FOR PATIENTS RECEIVING PLATINUM THERAPY IN AN OUTPATIENT ONCOLOGY CLINIC

  Objective: Platinum agents (PAs) are the most commonly used chemotherapeutic agents, aiming to induce tumor cell death by cytotoxicity. This leads to have high potential for toxicity and adverse effects. The main objectives of this study were to describe the incidence of side effects caused by platinum therapy and to conclude the management of treatment-related side effects for patients receiving platinum therapy.Methods: A descriptive, retrospective study was carried out over a period of 9 months. Laboratory reports of 100 cancer patients were recorded. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 17.0 and GraphPad Prism. A p<0.05 (95% confidence interval) was considered significantly throughout the study.Results: Among 100 patients 55% were male and 45% were female. A total of 70% (n=70) patients who received platinum compounds as chemotherapy regimen, among them 97.14% (n=68) patients appears to have anemia. Among the occurrence of adverse drug reactions, the incidence of anemia was found to be significant (n=68, 97.14%). Statistically significant difference was found in the incidence of anemia between PAs and non- PAs treated group (p=0.0001).Conclusion: Among PAs cisplatin-induced anemia and nephrotoxicity appears to be high in this study. There is a need to improve the management of anemia induced by PAs. Since anemia is preventable, this study emphasizes the need to improve the management of anemia induced by PAs