ORAL ETOPOSIDE IN ELDERLY PREVIOUSLY UNTREATED OVARIAN-CANCER PATIENTS WITH RESIDUAL DISEASE

As etoposide had shown activity as second-line therapy and is a well-t olerated drug, a phase II study was performed to test the efficacy and side effects of intermittent oral etoposide in elderly untreated pati ents with residual ovarian cancer after primary laparotomy. Twenty-sev en patients were treated with etoposide 170 mg m(-2) day(-1) p.o. for 5 days every 3 weeks for a maximum of 10 cycles. There was a high prop ortion of patients with stage IV disease (45.5%) and bulky residual di sease greater than 5 cm (81.8%). The overall clinical response rate (C R+PR) in 21 assessable patients was 47.6% (95% CI: 26-70%). The median survival for all patients was 10 months (range 0.5-61+) and the media n time to treatment failure 6.5 months (range 0.5-31). The overall tox icity was moderate and manageable, and consisted mainly of bone marrow suppression with 54% and 14% of the patients developing white blood c ell (WBC) and platelet values corresponding to WHO grades 3-4, respect ively. In conclusion, the results of our study confirm that etoposide has activity in previously untreated ovarian cancer patients and is we ll tolerated.