Gastrointestinal System: One of the most common side effects from receiving oxaliplatin is nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea. Patients should be given medicines known as antiemetics before receiving oxaliplatin to help prevent, or decrease this side effect. Diarrhea and mouth sores have also been known to occur. These chances increase if oxaliplatin is given along with the chemotherapy drug fluorouracil.
Nerves and Nervous System: Oxaliplatin can commonly cause damage to nerves and nervous system tissues. Patients may feel tingling, numbness, and sometimes burning of the fingers and toes (neuropathy, both an acute, reversible sensitivity to cold and numbness in the hands and feet and a chronic, possibly irreversible foot/leg, hand/arm numbness, often with deficits in proprioception). This side effect is common, can be severe, and gets worse in the cold. The patient must inform the doctor if any of these symptoms are present. In addition, the patient may experience a tightness or spasm in their throat. The chance that this will happen increases if the patient is exposed to cold food or drinks while receiving oxaliplatin.
Hematological: Low blood counts, referred to as myelosuppression, are expected due to oxaliplatin. The extent to which the blood counts fall due to oxaliplatin has been minimal. When the white blood cell count is low, this is called neutropenia and patients are at an increased risk of developing a fever and infections. There is a drug called filgrastim that can be used to increase the white blood cell count. Platelets are blood cells in the body that allow for the formation of clots. When the platelet count is low, patients are at an increased risk for bruising and bleeding. If the platelet count remains too low a platelet blood transfusion is an option. Low red blood cell counts, referred to as anemia, may also occur due to cisplatin administration. Low red counts make people feel tired and lacking energy. There is a drug called erythropoietin that can be used to increase the red blood cell count.
Allergic Reactions: Oxaliplatin has caused severe allergic reactions known as anaphylaxis. The symptoms include difficulty breathing, drop in blood pressure, sweating, redness of the face, dizziness, headache, and a fast heart beat. This appears to be more common after several treatments with the drug oxaliplatin.
Others: Less common side effects include hair loss (alopecia), fever, rash on hands and feet when given with fluorouracil, and Fatigue. Oxaliplatin rarely causes kidney damage or hearing damage, unlike cisplatin chemotherapy. In addition, some patients may experience an allergic reaction to platinum-containing drugs.