Impact of doxorubicin on survival in advanced ovarian cancer.
OBJECTIVE
Our study examined the impact of the addition of doxorubicin to ovarian cancer regimens in general, while removing the confounding influence of other drugs.


METHODS
We performed an overview using the data from two large analyses, the Advanced Ovarian Cancer Trialists Group (AOCTG [Br Med J 303:884-893, 1991] and Williams et al [Seminars in Oncol 19:120-128, 1992 (suppl 2)]) and the Ovarian Cancer Meta-Analysis Project (OCMP [J Clin Oncol 9:1668-1674, 1991]).


RESULTS
Our data suggest that the addition of doxorubicin significantly improves survival (hazards ratio, 0.85; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.76 to 0.95; P = .003) and that the size of this benefit is of a similar magnitude to that of platinum.


CONCLUSIONS
The implication of our results is that the basic drugs for the standard treatment of advanced ovarian should be a combination of platinum and doxorubicin. The addition of an alkylating agent may add toxicity and lead to a dose reduction of these two drugs. In view of recent data on combination therapy with paclitaxel and platinum, it would be appropriate to compare this regimen with a combination of doxorubicin and platinum.
A'Hern
R P
RP
Department of Computing and Information, Royal Marsden Hospital, London, United Kingdom.
Gore
M E
ME
D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D012307:Risk Factors; D015996:Survival Rate
D004317:Doxorubicin; D002945:Cisplatin