Retinoblastoma (RB) is one of the most aggressive
malignancies affecting infants and children.
Platinum drugs are commonly used in the treatment of RB; however, their efficacy is often compromised by drug resistance and severe toxicity. The present study aimed to investigate and compare the toxicity and antitumor activity of the third‑generation
platinum drugs,
carboplatin and
lobaplatin, in vitro and in vivo. The Y79 RB cell line was treated with
carboplatin or
lobaplatin in vitro and then used to establish xenografts in immunodeficient nude mice in vivo; the effects of pharmacological doses of these drugs were then assessed. High concentrations of
carboplatin and
lobaplatin markedly inhibited Y79 RB cell proliferation in vitro. In addition, the
lobaplatin group exhibited higher proportions of early‑stage apoptotic cells than the
carboplatin group, while no significant differences in the proportions of cells in the S phase were observed between the 2 groups, as shown by flow cytometry. Significant changes in the E2F1/Cdc25a/Cdk2 pathway in the RB cells were detected by RNA‑seq following
carboplatin or
lobaplatin intervention. RT‑qPCR, immunofluorescence and immunohistochemical analyses in vivo and in vitro demonstrated that the trends of drug‑induced inhibition of
tumor pathological changes may have been regulated through the E2F1/Cdc25a/Cdk2 pathway, and that
lobaplatin was more effective than
carboplatin in controlling
tumors in vivo. On the whole, the findings of the present study demonstrate that
lobaplatin is associated with lower cytotoxicity and exerts more prominent
therapeutic effects than
carboplatin on Y79 RB cells in vitro and in mice in vivo.