End-stage renal disease following carboplatin chemotherapy for a nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Renal failure secondary to carboplatin therapy is due to acute tubular necrosis and is usually reversible. However, acute renal failure with rapid progression to end-stage renal disease is an exceedingly rare complication of carboplatin therapy. The authors report a case of definitive renal failure secondary to carboplatin chemotherapy for a nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The mechanisms that give rise to the chronic nephropathy are discussed.