PHASE-II STUDY OF 96-HR CONTINUOUS-INFUSION ETOPOSIDE AND DOXORUBICINWITH BOLUS CYCLOPHOSPHAMIDE IN REFRACTORY EPITHELIAL OVARIAN-CANCER

Effective salvage chemotherapy for patients with ovarian cancer who ha ve failed platinum- and taxane-based regimens has not been identified, It has been reported that prolonged infusions of chemotherapy may be active in some malignancies which have become refractory to bolus trea tments, We evaluated a regimen of 96-hr continuous-infusion doxorubici n (10 mg/m(2)/24 hr), etoposide (50 mg/m(2)/24 hr), and bolus cyclopho sphamide (750 mg/m(2)) administered every 21 days to patients with ova rian cancer who had previously been treated with paclitaxel and a plat inum compound, Nineteen women were treated, 15 of whom had platinum-re fractory cancer, Six of the first 9 experienced a neutropenic fever af ter the first treatment cycle, and therefore all subsequent patients r eceived prophylactic granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor. Other sign ificant toxicities included hand and foot syndrome (1 patient) and muc ositis (4 patients). There was one partial response in a patient with platinum-sensitive disease. We conclude that this regimen causes signi ficant myelosuppression and does not have major activity in heavily pr etreated patients with ovarian cancer. (C) 1997 Academic Press.