[3][4][5] Other serious side effects include numbness, trouble walking, allergic reactions, electrolyte problems, and heart disease.

[7][8] Cisplatin is administered intravenously as short-term infusion in normal saline for treatment of solid and haematological malignancies.

Following administration, one chloride ion is slowly displaced by water to give the aquo complex cis-[PtCl(NH3)2(H2O)]+, in a process termed aquation.

A model compound has been prepared and crystals were examined by X-ray crystallography[23] Subsequent to formation of [PtCl(guanine-DNA)(NH3)2]+, crosslinking can occur via displacement of the other chloride, typically by another guanine.

In 2008, apoptosis induced by cisplatin on human colon cancer cells was shown to depend on the mitochondrial serine-protease Omi/Htra2.

Coordination chemists have obtained crystals of the products of reacting cisplain with small models of DNA.

Initial platinum responsiveness is high, but the majority of cancer patients will eventually relapse with cisplatin-resistant disease.

[36] The octahedral Pt(IV) complex cis-[PtCl4(NH3)2], but not the trans isomer, was found to be effective at forcing filamentous growth of E. coli cells.

The square planar Pt(II) complex, cis-[PtCl2(NH3)2] turned out to be even more effective at forcing filamentous growth.

[37][38] This finding led to the observation that cis-[PtCl2(NH3)2] was indeed highly effective at regressing the mass of sarcomas in rats.

[39] Confirmation of this discovery, and extension of testing to other tumour cell lines launched the medicinal applications of cisplatin.

[43] In 1983 pediatric oncologist Roger Packer began incorporating cisplatin into adjuvant chemotherapy for the treatment of childhood medulloblastoma.

[44] The new protocol that he developed led to a marked increase in disease-free survival rates for patients with medulloblastoma, up to around 85%.

[50] Cisplatin-like molecules ([PtCl(NH3)2] and [Pt(NH3)Cl2]) linked by variable length alkandiamine chains have attracted some interest in cancer chemotherapy.