• If you are allergic to anything, including medicines, dyes, additives, or foods.

• If you have any medical conditions such as kidney disease, liver disease (including hepatitis), heart disease, congestive heart failure, diabetes, gout, or infections. These conditions may require that your medicine dose, regimen, or timing be changed.

• If you have taken carboplatin or other platinum-containing medicines before. You will need to be watched more closely for certain side effects.

• If you are pregnant, trying to get pregnant, or if there is any chance of pregnancy. This drug may cause birth defects if either the male or female is taking it at the time of conception or during pregnancy. Men and women who are taking this drug need to use some kind of birth control. It is important to check with your doctor about what kinds of birth control can be used with this medicine.

• If you are breastfeeding. It is not known whether this drug passes into breast milk. If it does, it could affect the baby.

• If you think you might want to have children in the future. Some drugs can cause sterility. Talk with your doctor about the possible risk with this drug and the options that may preserve your ability to have children.

• About any other prescription or over-the-counter medicines you are taking, including vitamins and herbs.

This drug can cause allergic reactions in some people while the drug is being given. Symptoms can include feeling lightheaded or dizzy (due to low blood pressure), fever or chills, hives, nausea, itching, headache, coughing, shortness of breath, or swelling of the face, tongue, or throat. Tell your doctor or nurse right away if you notice any of these symptoms as you are being given the drug.

Carboplatin is given into the vein (IV). If the drug leaks out of the vein and under the skin, it may damage the tissue, causing pain, ulceration, and scarring. Tell the nurse right away if you notice redness, pain, or swelling at or near the IV.

Your doctor will likely test your blood throughout your treatment, looking for possible effects of the drug on blood counts (described below) or on other body organs. Based on the test results, you may be given medicines to help treat any effects. Your doctor may also need to reduce or delay your next dose of this drug, or even stop it altogether.

This drug can lower your white blood cell count, especially in the weeks after the drug is given. This can increase your chance of getting an infection. Be sure to let your doctor or nurse know right away if you have any signs of infection, such as fever (100.5° or higher), chills, pain when passing urine, a new cough, or bringing up sputum.

Carboplatin may lower your platelet count in the weeks after it is given, which can increase your risk of bleeding. Speak with your doctor before taking any drugs or supplements that might affect your body's ability to stop bleeding, such as aspirin or aspirin-containing medicines, warfarin (Coumadin), or vitamin E. Tell your doctor right away if you have unusual bruising, or bleeding such as nosebleeds, bleeding gums when you brush your teeth, or black, tarry stools.

You may have nausea and vomiting on the day you receive this drug or in the first few days afterward. Your doctor may give you medicine before your treatment to help prevent nausea and vomiting. You will likely also get a prescription for an anti-nausea medicine that you can take at home. It is important to have these medicines on hand and to take them as prescribed by your doctor.

Carboplatin may cause damage to certain nerves in the body, which can lead to a condition called peripheral neuropathy. This can cause numbness, weakness, pain, or sensations of burning or tingling, usually in the hands or feet. Constipation can also occur. These symptoms can sometimes progress to include trouble walking or holding something in your hands. You will be watched closely for these symptoms. Let your doctor know right away if you notice any of them. If your symptoms are severe enough, this drug may need to be stopped or the dose reduced until they get better.

• Decreased white blood cell count with increased risk of infection*
• Decreased platelet count with increased risk of bleeding*
• Brittle hair
• Kidney function can be altered at high doses
• Fetal abnormalities if pregnant or becoming pregnant while taking this drug

• Nausea*
• Vomiting*
• Mild loss of appetite
• Mild diarrhea
• Constipation
• Taste changes
• Sensation of pins and needles in hands and/or feet related to nerve irritation*

• Confusion
• Changes in vision
• Ringing in ears, hearing loss
• Rash
• Severe allergic reaction*
• Dizziness

*see Precautions section for more detailed information