Mechanism of Action

Oxaliplatin also has a similar mechanism to cisplatin due to the similarities in structures, but forms different cross-links with DNA. Oxaliplatin mostly forms cross-links between adjacent guanine bases or between guanine and adenine. The oxaliplatin-DNA adducts are more effective in the inhibition of DNA synthesis because of the bulky and lipophilic DACH ligand.⁴ Figure 1 shows formation of a bond between guanine bases extracted from the DNA strand after aquation.