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24 Xia Ye:Searching for the Trojan Horse Humanistic Pharmacy: From Dream to Reality in 25 Years 2024 年 12 月 第 6 期
the division of E. coli was not enhanced; instead, it was suppressed. After numerous experiments,
Rosenberg and his team found that the active agent was not the electric field but a platinum-
ammonium chloride compound (Pt(NH₃)₂Cl₂)—a compound with a square planar structure. This
compound existed in two isomeric forms: if the two amine ligands were on the same side, it was
called the "cis" form, and if they were on opposite sides, it was called the "trans" form. Further
research revealed that only the "cis" form, later named cisplatin, was biologically active, while the
"trans" form was inactive. Rosenberg's team demonstrated cisplatin's efficacy in mouse models, and
in 1971, multicenter clinical trials began, culminating in FDA approval in 1978. Cisplatin became
one of the most successful anticancer drugs.
As with all scientific research, new discoveries are continuously made. Over time, researchers
found that cancer cells could develop resistance to cisplatin. In 1979, Professor Yoshinori Kidani
and his team at Nagoya City University in Japan synthesized a new platinum-based derivative called
oxaliplatin and secured a patent for it. However, due to its high cost, the existence of cisplatin,
differing expert opinions, and perhaps because "humanism" was not in place at the time, oxaliplatin
was shelved for a decade. When carboplatin, the second platinum-based chemotherapy drug, was
approved in 1989, it reignited interest in oxaliplatin. Researchers began focusing on its potential to
treat metastatic colorectal cancer, distinguishing it from cisplatin and carboplatin. In his book, The
Story of New Drugs, renowned scholar and pharmacist Professor Liang Guibai wrote, "At the end of
the road of new drug development lies uncharted territory, awaiting pioneers." The researchers, with
their creativity, combined oxaliplatin with fluorouracil and leucovorin (forming the FOLFOX
regimen), creating the first-line treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer and filling a gap in