Satraplatin (INN, codenamed JM216) is a platinum-based antineoplastic agent that was under investigation as a treatment of patients with advanced prostate cancer who have failed previous chemotherapy.

Its relative ease of administration, potential lack of cross-resistance with other platinum agents, clinical benefits seen in early studies of prostate cancer, and an unmet need in this patient population after Docetaxel failure at that time.

In a phase I study from Vanderbilt University, seven of eight patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, who were treated with 10 to 30 mg of satraplatin thrice a week concurrently with radiotherapy achieved a complete response.

[7] Many human tumors including testicular, bladder, lung, head, neck, and cervical cancers have been treated with platinum compounds.

An acquired resistance to cisplatin/carboplatin in ovarian cancer was discovered due to insufficient amounts of platinum reaching the target DNA or failure to achieve cell death.

The two polar acetate groups on satraplatin increase the drugs bioavailability, which in turn allows for a large fraction of the administered dose to make it into the bloodstream where metabolism begins.

In cisplatin the two amine groups are symmetrical while satraplatin's cyclohexamine makes it asymmetrical which contributes to some of the drug's special properties.

However, some studies show that satraplatin compared to other platinum anti-cancer drugs can be elusive and are not recognized by the DNA repair proteins due to the different adducts on the molecule (cyclohexamine).