3-HOUR PACLITAXEL INFUSION AND CARBOPLATIN IS AN EFFECTIVE OUTPATIENTTREATMENT FOR STAGE-III EPITHELIAL OVARIAN-CANCER

Objective. The aim of this study was to determine the response rate an d toxicity of a 3-h paclitaxel infusion and carboplatin delivered as o utpatient therapy for the treatment of stage III/IV epithelial ovarian cancer. Methods. Thirty patients with stage III/IV epithelial ovarian cancer underwent cytoreductive surgery. The first 10 patients receive d adjuvant paclitaxel 150 mg/m(2) via 3-h infusion on day 1 and carbop latin 5 times area under the curve on day 2 (group 1) every 28 days. T he paclitaxel dose was escalated to 175 mg/m(2) for the next 20 patien ts (group 2). chi(2) and Kaplan-Meier procedures were used for statist ical analysis. Results. Nine of 51 cycles in group 1 (17.6%) and 19 of 116 cycles (16.4%) in group 2 were associated with grade 4 neutropeni a (P = 0.96), but only 2 of the 161 total cycles (0.01%) had fever and neutropenia. One patient in group 1 experienced grade 3 thrombocytope nia. Two patients in the entire group (7.4%) required colony-stimulati ng factors. One patient in group 2 (3.7%) had grade 3 neurotoxicity. W ith a median follow-up of 29 months for the entire group, 5 of 8 patie nts (62.5%) in group 1 and 14 of 19 patients (73.7%) in group 2 are al ive. Median progression-free survival for group 1 and 2 is 13 and 14 m onths, respectively. Median overall survival has not been reached. Con clusions. Paclitaxel via 3-h infusion and carboplatin is an effective outpatient treatment for epithelial ovarian cancer that can be safely administered on schedule in the majority of patients. (C) 1998 Academi c Press.