Incidence and physiological mechanism of carboplatin-induced electrolyte abnormality among patients with non-small cell lung cancer

To clarify the association between carboplatin and electrolyte abnormality, a pooled-analysis was performed with the adverse event reports of non-small cell lung cancer patients. A total of 19901 adverse events were retrieved from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). Pooled reporting odds ratios (RORs) and 95% CIs suggested that carboplatin was significantly associated with hyponatremia (pooled ROR = 1.57, 95% CI 1.182.09, P = 1.99 × 10(-3)) and hypokalemia (pooled ROR = 2.37, 95% CI 1.803.10, P = 5.24 × 10(-10)) as compared to other therapies. In addition, we found that dehydration was frequently concurrent with carboplatin therapy (pooled ROR = 2.01, 95% CI 1.522.66, P = 8.37 × 10(-7)), which may prompt excessive water ingestion and decrease serum electrolyte concentrations. This information has not been mentioned in the FDA-approved drug label and could help explain the physiological mechanism of carboplatin-induced electrolyte abnormality. In conclusion, the above results will facilitate clinical management and prompt intervention of life-threatening electrolyte imbalance in the course of cancer treatment.