Normal and elongated E coli: (a) scanning electron microphotograph of normal E. coli, (b) scanning electron microphotograph of E. coli grown in medium containing cisplatin. The platinum drug inhibited cell division, but not growth, leading to long filaments. Cisplatin is known to produce responses in approximately 80% of patients with testicular cancer, greater than 90% of patients with ovarian carcinomas, roughly 40% of patients with head and neck cancers, around 40% of patients with some lymphomas and any activity in colon carcinoma [11, 13-21]. The unexpected success of cisplatin in treating a fairly wide variety of cancers, however, was slightly obscured by the evidence of serious kidney toxicity and other side effects, natural and acquired resistance to cisplatin and the reduced therapeutic indexes that could be used considering toxicity limitations [22]. Cisplatin also presents little solubility in aqueous solutions and is therefore administered intravenously, another inconvenience to outpatient treatment. Newer platinum analogues are continuously emerging which are expanding the spectrum of activity of the original drug, or at least reducing the side effects and resistance. Over the past 35 years, pre-clinical screening of several thousand new molecules based on platinum complexes has resulted in the identification of around 28 compounds that have entered clinical development [15, 18, 20, 22-25]. Of these, seven (Figure 1.4.2) are currently approved in clinics. Cisplatin and carboplatin (all around the world, approved, 1978 and 1985 respectively) [18], oxaliplatin (few countries only, approved 1996) [18], lobaplatin (China, approved 2001) [18], nedaplatin (Japan, approved 1995) [18], heptaplatin(SKI2053, South Xxxxx, approved 1999) [26, 27], all them with Pt(II) as metal centre and satraplatin (JM216, USA, approved 2007) [28]. This last one is the first platinum-containing anticancer agent expressly developed for oral administration with Pt(IV) approved in clinics. Cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin are highly effective metal-based anticancer agents used in 50 % of all tumour therapies all over the world [29]. Nevertheless, despite limitations in its medical application, the paramount importance of cisplatin came from the attention attracted to the study of metal-based drugs and the design of efficient metal-base therapeutics. The employment of metals in the treatment of different diseases can be traced back almost 5000 years [30]. As far back as 3000 BC papyrus recor...
