Carboplatin and paclitaxel: Role in the treatment of endometrial cancer

Abstract Endometrial cancer is a common type of cancer affecting women. It is the most common form of uterine cancer and originates from the endometrium often after menopause. Over the last 10 years, on an average 1.9% increase in mortality rate has been reported. Based on extent of severity endometrial cancer is classified into eight stages: IA, IB, II, IIIA, IIIB, IIIC, IVA, and IVB. The major risk factors leading to endometrial cancer are obesity, type 2 diabetes, not giving birth, breast cancer treatment with tamoxifen, estrogen hormone replacement therapy, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), abnormal metabolic conditions, and family history of the disease. The treatments available to cure endometrial cancer include surgery, radiation therapy, hormone therapy, chemotherapy, and targeted drug therapy. Carboplatin in combination with paclitaxel has been the most efficient and least toxic for chemotherapy. These drugs are also highly administered in several other cancer types because of their unique properties. Carboplatin, a derivative of cisplatin, is a less toxic and more stable compound. This drug is capable of causing alkylation leading to production of reactive platinum complexes that damage DNA. Paclitaxel, on the other hand, interacts with the microtubules of the cell and hyperstabilizes them. This disrupts the normal cell cycle allowing cells to undergo apoptosis. Although solo drug therapy induced a lower level of overall response rate, it increased significantly when administered in combination. Favorable results were also obtained when these two drugs were administered in conjunction with other forms of cancer therapy such as radiation, surgery, and hormone therapy.