96-HOUR INFUSIONAL PACLITAXEL AS SALVAGE THERAPY OF OVARIAN-CANCER PATIENTS PREVIOUSLY FAILING TREATMENT WITH 3-HOUR OR 24-HOUR PACLITAXEL INFUSION REGIMENS

Purpose: To test the hypothesis that prolonged infusion of paclitaxel (96 hours) might overcome resistance to shorter infusion schedules (3 or 24 hours) in ovarian cancer. Patients and Methods: A total of 30 pa tients with advanced ovarian cancer (24 patients), primary carcinoma o f the peritoneum (four patients), or fallopian tube cancer (two patien ts) who previously had received paclitaxel administered on either a 3- hour or 24-hour schedule were treated with the agent delivered as a 96 -hour infusion (30 to 35 mg/m(2)/d x 4 days) on an every 3-week progra m.Results: Although the regimen generally wets well tolerated, no obje ctive responses were observed. Conclusion: In patients with ovarian ca ncer who have shown resistance to shorter paclitaxel infusion schedule s, ninety-six hour infusional paclitaxel is an inactive treatment stra tegy This makes it less likely that protracted infusion of paclitaxel wilt improve outcome when used as part of primary therapy of ovarian c ancer. An ongoing randomized study will answer that question.