Hypomagnesemia is one of the well-known side effects in patients receiving
cisplatin-containing
chemotherapy. However, the relevance between hypomagnesemia and
cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity remain to be completely elucidated. Although patients with esophageal and
hypopharyngeal cancer are susceptible to
dehydration, there is no evidence yet that
magnesium supplementation for these patients will prevent nephrotoxicity during
cisplatin-containing
chemotherapy. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of
magnesium supplementation on the prevention of
cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity for patients with esophageal and
hypopharyngeal cancer. Twenty-three patients with esophageal or
hypopharyngeal cancer were studied over 2 weeks. Ten of them received
magnesium supplementation and 13 did not.
Magnesium sulphate(20 mEq) was administered before
5-fluorouracil(800mg/m2/24 h/day 1-5)and
cisplatin(80mg/m2/day 1)(FP)treatment. The maximum serum
creatinine concentration of
magnesium-supplemented group demonstrated a significantly lower concentration compared to the non-
magnesium-supplemented group(p=0. 018). As a result,
magnesium supplementation successfully reduced the incidence rate of nephrotoxicity(p=0. 038). These results showed that
magnesium supplementation before FP treatment may be quite beneficial for preventing nephrotoxicity in patients with esophageal and
hypopharyngeal cancer, and it is therefore recommended that
magnesium be routinely supplemented during FP treatment for esophageal or
hypopharyngeal cancer.