PHASE-II STUDY OF PROLONGED ORAL ETOPOSIDE IN PATIENTS WITH OVARIAN-CANCER REFRACTORY TO OR RELAPSING WITHIN 12 MONTHS AFTER PLATINUM-CONTAINING CHEMOTHERAPY

Patients and methods: Twenty-eight patients with ovarian cancer refractory to or relapsing within 12 months after cisplatin-containing chemotherapy were treated with etoposide 50 mg/m2 daily for 21 days, followed by a 7-day break. Results: Of 25 evaluable patients, 4 achieved partial responses (16%, 95% confidence interval 5%-36%) of 4, 4, 7, and 10 months' duration. The platinum treatment-free intervals for these patients were 2, 9, 7, and 10 months, respectively. Etoposide in this schedule was generally well tolerated, with mylosuppression as the major toxicity, resulting in a median dose intensity over all cycles of 83% (range 47%-100%). Conclusions: Prolonged oral etoposide is moderately active both in relapsed and platinum-refractory ovarian cancer, and a schedule of 50 mg/m2 days 1-21, every 4 weeks is fairly well tolerated in this usually heavily pretreated and elderly patient population.