Phase II trial of oral etoposide in recurrent or refractory endometrial adenocarcinoma: A Southwest Oncology Group study

Oral etoposide has activity in a wide variety of tumors and is well tolerat ed, Therefore, the efficacy of oral etoposide was assessed as a treatment o f metastatic endometrial cancer. To be eligible for this group-wide Southwe st Oncology Group trial, patients had to have histologically proven metasta tic or recurrent endometrial carcinoma; no previous cytotoxic therapy; and adequate renal, hepatic, and hematologic function, and they had to have giv en informed consent. Therapy consisted of oral etoposide, 50 mg daily on da ys 1-21 on a 28-day schedule, Therapy was continued in the absence of toxic ity or disease progression. Forty-four eligible women, with a median age of 68 years (range 38-84 years) were treated. Radiotherapy had been delivered to 33 and hormonal therapy to 21, The median duration of therapy was 69 da ys (range 7-510 days). The treatment was well tolerated. Only one patient h ad grade 4 neutropenia, and a second had grade 4 anemia. Three patients had grade 3 nausea. One complete and five partial responses (14%) were observe d. An additional four patients had unconfirmed responses. Tumor regressions were noted in nodes, bone, and visceral organs. While oral etoposide has o nly a modest level of activity when used in chemonaive patients, the minima l toxicity of this drug makes it a candidate for use in combination chemoth erapy. (C) 1999 Academic Press.