Hypersensitivity to carboplatin in children

Background. Hypersensitivity reactions are rare bur at times severe complic ations to cytostatic drugs. Procedure. The percentage of allergic reactions to carboplatin and their clinical features were evaluated in 185 children affected by different so lid tumors and treated with etoposide-carboplatin chemotherapy. Allergic reactions that occurred during or immediately follow ing etoposide infusion (5 cases, 2.8%) were excluded from the study. Result s. Seventeen out of 185 patients (9.2%) suffered from allergic responses to carboplatin. The first of these occurred after an average of 10.1 courses (range, 1-23; median, 9). The risk calculated according to the number of co urses is 2% at 6 courses, 11.3% at 12 courses, and 47% at more than 12 cour ses. Conclusions. The high risk of allergic reactions to multiple courses o f carboplatin should be kept in mind when developing treatment regimens tha t include the drug. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss. Inc.