Development of Testicular Cancer Treatments - Carboplatin
Great progress has been made in recent decades in the treatment of testicular cancer. In the 1960s, the survival rate was shockingly low: Only six per cent of men survived the disease. These days, the cure rate is 99% if caught early enough, largely due to successful treatments called cisplatin and carboplatin. Carboplatin was developed at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), home of the Everyman Centre.
However, we still have a long way to go as the incidence of testicular cancer continues to rise around the world. It is our goal to identify why certain men get the disease and exactly how it develops. By unlocking some of these secrets we can improve the outlook for all testicular cancer patients.
Carboplatin
Carboplatin has become a standard treatment for a frequent sub-type of testicular cancer called seminoma. A single dose of this drug has proved to be as effective at treating testicular cancer as two to three weeks of radiotherapy, with the added benefit of fewer side-effects for patients. It also allows surgeons to remove just the affected part of a testicle, rather than the whole organ.
Radiotherapy has been extremely effective in preventing recurrence of the cancer, but there are potential side-effects. Patients undergoing radiotherapy risk temporary infertility and gastric irritation, and in the longer term some experience more serious problems including damage to the cardiovascular system and a slightly increased risk of developing new cancers in other organs.
For developing this life-changing drug, the ICR won the Queen's Award for Technological Achievement in 1991.
