Hazard Alert! The current issue of
Journal of Clinical Oncology includes an abstract which ambiguously
states a cisplatin dose.
From the January 16, 1997 issue of MSA Acute Care Edition Newsletter
The current issue of Journal of Clinical Oncology includes
an abstract which ambiguously states a cisplatin dose.1 The
abstract states a chemoradiotherapy regimen as “cisplatin
75 mg/ m2 and fluorouracil (5FU) 1,000 mg/m2/d on days 1 to
4 every 4 weeks with RT, and every 3 weeks post-RT.”
This implies that cisplatin should be given each time along
with fluorouracil daily for 4 days, for a total cisplatin
dose of 300 mg/m2 for each cycle. In fact, the Materials and
Methods section of the article states that “cisplatin
75 mg/m2 intravenously was administered with hydration and
mannitol diuresis on day 1, and 5FU 1,000 mg/m2/d by 96 hour
infusion was administered on days 1 to 4.”
Although healthcare professionals should not utilize an article
abstract to determine drug dosages, this probably does occur.
Since a transcription of the cisplatin dose as published in
the abstract could possibly lead to a fatal overdose, we recommend
that appropriate medical, nursing, and pharmacy staff be made
aware of this problem. The journal’s editorial staff
has been notified.
Reference
1. Al-Sarraf M, Martz K, Herskovic A, et al. Progress report
of combined chemoradiotherapy versus
radiotherapy alone in patients with esophageal cancer: An
intergroup study. Journal of Clinical Oncology,
1997;15:277-284.
