TABLE II.

Hypersensitivity reactions to platinum- and taxane-based chemotherapy (adapted from Syrigou et al., 2010⁸ and Makrilia et al., 2010⁹)

Drug	Overall incidence (%)	Time of initial onset	Reactions	Characteristics or severity
Platinum agents
Cisplatin	5–20	Within minutes or days of infusion start, between 4th and 8th cycles, generally after 6 cycles	Rash, pruritus, fever, dyspnea, bronchospasm, hypotension	Increase with concomitant radiation Variable reactions to moderate, sometimes lethal
Carboplatin	1–44	Within the first 30 minutes or days from infusion, generally after 7 cycles	Grade 1 or 2: urticaria, itching, erythema (palms and soles) Grade 3 or 4: cutaneous (face swelling, diffuse erythema), gastrointestinal (abdominal cramps, diarrhea), respiratory (dyspnea, bronchospasm), cardiovascular (chest pain, tachycardia, hypotension, hypertension)	<1% during cycles 1–5 6.5% in cycle 6 27% in cycle 7 or subsequent 44% in 3rd-line treatment 60%–70% are grade 1 or 2
Oxaliplatin	10–19	Within minutes or days from infusion, generally after 6 cycles	Grade 1 or 2: itching, erythema (palms and soles) Grade 3 or 4: urticaria, face swelling, diffuse erythroderma, bronchospasm in rare instances leading to anaphylactic shock	1.6% are grades 3 and 4 Severe anaphylaxis in case reports Symptoms can appear during or within hours from infusion In many patients, 1st reaction is moderate and becomes severe with next infusion
Taxanes
Paclitaxel	8–45	Within first minutes of infusion, during cycle 1 or 2	Dyspnea (with or without bronchospasm), urticaria, hypotension (or sometimes hypertension), erythema, back pain, chest pain, abdominal or pelvic pain	Minor reactions in 40% of patients Severe reactions in 1.3% of patients
Docetaxel	25–50	Within first minutes of infusion, during cycle 1 or 2	Dyspnea (with or without bronchospasm), urticaria, hypotension (or sometimes hypertension), erythema, fluid retention syndrome	Severe anaphylactic reactions in 2% of patients