Is Cisplatin safe while breastfeeding?
Here is what NIH LactMed, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's authority on medicines and breastfeeding, reports about Cisplatin. This is a summary of that source — not our own verdict.
Effects on the breastfed infant
Two women were treated with unspecified doses of cisplatin for treatment of cervical cancer every 2 weeks during pregnancy. They both breastfed their newborn infants. Follow-up examinations of the infants, including Bayley scale test, neurology, and echocardiography at age of 20 and 35 months revealed normal findings.[ 7 ] A 20-week preterm infant began breastfeeding more than 20 days after the mother s 6th and final cisplatin dose of 40 mg sq. m (55 mg) weekly, for a total of six cycles. The infant had a lower body weight (7.4 kg) than average at 1 year and 2 months of age because of being born prematurely, but there were no major concerns regarding development.[ 11 ]
Effects on milk supply
A study of adolescent males who had received chemotherapy for childhood malignancies found that having received cisplatin was associated with elevated serum prolactin concentrations.[ 12 ] Another study of survivors of testicular cancer found that about 6% of those treated with cisplatin had abnormally high prolactin levels and 2% had abnormally low prolactin levels.[ 13 ] A telephone follow-up study was conducted on 74 women who received cancer chemotherapy at one center during the second or third trimester of pregnancy to determine if they were successful at breastfeeding postpartum. Only 34% of the women were able to exclusively breastfeed their infants, and 66% of the women reported experiencing breastfeeding difficulties. This was in comparison to a 91% breastfeeding success rate in 22 other mothers diagnosed during pregnancy but not treated with chemotherapy. Other statistically significant correlations included: 1. mothers with breastfeeding difficulties had an average of 5.5 chemotherapy cycles compared with 3.8 cycles among mothers who had no difficulties; and 2. mothers with breastfeeding difficulties received their first cycle of chemotherapy on average 3.4 weeks earlier in pregnancy. Of the 3 women who received a cisplatin-containing regimen, 1 had breastfeeding difficulties.[ 14 ]
Levels in milk
Maternal Levels. Platinum was not detected ( 100 mcg/L) in the milk of one patient at any time after an IV infusion of 100 mg/sq. m (130 mg) of cisplatin.[ 3 ] In another patient, trough milk platinum was 900 mcg/L at 19.5 hours after her second daily dose of cisplatin 20 mg/sq. m infused intravenously over 4 hours. The simultaneous plasma platinum level was 800 mcg/L.[ 4 ] Note: the original report stated a cisplatin dose of 30 mg/sq. m, but this was later corrected to 20 mg/sq. m in a published erratum. A patient was given cisplatin 60 mg/sq. m (100 mg) infused intravenously over 3 hours. Samples from two cycles of therapy found average peak milk platinum concentrations of about 125 mcg/L occurred 30 minutes after the dose and about 112 mcg/L at 18 hours after the dose. Milk platinum levels were about 10% of simultaneous plasma levels at all time points over the 18-hour sampling periods of two cycles.[ 5 ] Three patients with cervical cancer received cisplatin 20 mg/sq. m during pregnancy as part of their treatment. All women had a cesarean section and hysterectomy between 31 and 35 weeks of gestation, followed by another course of chemotherapy. Breastmilk samples "in the first days of lactation" were obtained and analyzed, although the time since the last cisplatin dose and the time since surgery were not specified. Cisplatin concentrations in breastmilk samples were 0.2, 1.4, and 5.5 mg/L, which were 0.9%, 2.3% and 9% of concentrations in maternal blood at the time of surgery.[ 6 ] Two women were treated with unspecified doses of cisplatin for treatment of cervical cancer every 2 weeks during pregnancy. The time of the last dose before delivery was not clearly specified in the abstract. Breastmilk samples were obtained daily on days 1 to 4 postpartum. Cisplatin was measured by flameless atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Platinum was undetectable (lower limit of assay not specified) in all of the samples.[ 7 ] A woman was given her first dose of 70 mg (40 mg/s
Source: NIH LactMed (National Library of Medicine).
Educational summary of an authoritative source — not medical advice. Never start, stop, or change a medicine while breastfeeding without confirming with your doctor.