Utility of individualized carboplatin dosing alone and in combination regimens.

Carboplatin represents an ideal candidate for dose optimization in individual patients. The excellent correlations between renal function and carboplatin total body clearance and between carboplatin area under the plasma concentration by time curve (AUC) and thrombocytopenia allow calculation of carboplatin dosages that simultaneously minimize the likelihood of toxicity and maximize the amount of drug that can be delivered. Current studies are defining the essential relationship between carboplatin AUC and the likelihood of achieving a therapeutic response in various tumor types. These quantitative relationships between carboplatin AUC and thrombocytopenia and AUC and response should be the foundation for the intelligent use of carboplatin as an individual agent and for the intelligent assessment of the beneficial or adverse effects of other agents when combined with carboplatin.