# Platinum chemotherapy in HRD tumours

Source: https://onco.cc/pairings/platinum-plus-hrd/  
OnCo record `platinum-plus-hrd` (Pairing). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

DNA-crosslinking chemotherapy is especially effective in tumours that cannot repair double-strand breaks.

## Summary

This combination pairs Platinum agents with tumours carrying BRCA1 / BRCA2 (HRD) defects, because DNA-crosslinking chemotherapy is especially effective in cells that cannot repair double-strand breaks. The mechanism is that interstrand crosslinks need homologous recombination to repair, so HRD cells accumulate lethal double-strand breaks, as described in the DNA damage response & homologous recombination pathway. Multiple randomised trials support it: Carboplatin raises pathological complete response in Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) in GeparSixto and BrighTNess, with greater benefit in BRCA-mutant or HRD tumours. In Ovarian cancer, platinum sensitivity defines the treatable population, and the pairing is linked from the TNBC, Platinum agents and BRCA1 / BRCA2 (HRD) entries.

## Fields

- Kind: Pairing
- Last checked: 2026-09-04
- Pairs: Platinum agents + BRCA1 / BRCA2 (HRD)
- Type: combination
- Rationale: Interstrand crosslinks need homologous recombination to repair; HRD cells accumulate lethal double-strand breaks.
- Evidence: Multiple randomised trials.

## Sources

- TNT trial: carboplatin in BRCA1/2-mutated and triple-negative breast cancer BRCAness subgroups (Nature Medicine 2018): https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-018-0009-7

## Connected records

- cancers: [Ovarian cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/ovarian/), [Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)](https://onco.cc/cancers/tnbc/)
- drugs: [Carboplatin](https://onco.cc/drugs/carboplatin/)
- pathways: [DNA damage response & homologous recombination](https://onco.cc/pathways/ddr/)
- key papers: [Carboplatin in BRCA1/2-mutated and triple-negative breast cancer BRCAness subgroups: the TNT Trial](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-tutt-nat-med/)
- technologies: [Platinum agents](https://onco.cc/technologies/platinum/)
- targets: [BRCA1 / BRCA2 (HRD)](https://onco.cc/targets/brca/)
- roadmaps: [Triple-negative breast cancer roadmap: from a remainder defined by three negative tests to immunotherapy, antibody-drug conjugates and the residual disease problem](https://onco.cc/roadmaps/tnbc-roadmap/)

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