Recent updates in the clinical use of platinum compounds for the treatment of gynecologic cancers.

Platinum compounds have long played a role in the treatment of gynecologic cancers. Single-agent cisplatin and carboplatin have shown activity in endometrial cancer, and more recent studies have begun to investigate a variety of new platinum-based combinations. In cervical cancer, chemotherapy is used primarily to treat advanced or recurrent disease. Agents with proven single-agent activity in this setting include cisplatin, ifosfamide, and doxorubicin, and a number of cisplatin-based combination therapies are under clinical investigation. A variety of cisplatin-based combinations have also been used in ovarian cancer chemotherapy, with more recent studies investigating the substitution of carboplatin or oxaliplatin for cisplatin and the addition of paclitaxel. This review will examine recent clinical data on the use of platinum-based chemotherapies for the treatment of these gynecologic cancers.