title: Carboplatin alone compared with its combination with epirubicin and cyclophosphamide in untreated advanced epithelial ovarian cancer: a Hellenic co-operative oncology group study.
abstract: We compared, in a multicentric randomised prospective study, the efficacy and toxicity of carboplatin 400 mg/m2 as a single agent (CB) to a combination of carboplatin 300 mg/m2, epirubicin 50 mg/m2 and cyclophosphamide 500 mg/m2 (CB-EC) in advanced ovarian cancer patients. The treatment was scheduled to be administered every 3 weeks for six courses. Following initial laparotomy and cytoreductive surgery, 130 previously untreated patients entered the study. 73 patients were treated with carboplatin alone while 57 received the combination chemotherapy. In the majority of the patients, the regimens had to be given every 4 weeks due to myelosuppression. Nausea, vomiting and alopecia were more severe in the CB-EC arm. Overall, clinical complete response was observed in 73 (56%) and partial response in 20 (15%) patients. The median time to progression was 16.89 months and median survival was 29.54 months. No significant differences in response rate, time to progression, disease-free survival and overall survival were observed between the two treatment arms. The prognostic role of residual disease after initial surgery, complete remission at second-look laparotomy, tumour stage and performance status was confirmed.
authors.affiliation: Agii Anargiri Cancer Hospital, Kaliftaki Kifisia, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: D V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Skarlos
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Aravantinos
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kosmidis
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pavlidis
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gennatas
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beer
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mylonakis
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Makrantonakis
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Klouvas
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karpathios
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Linardou
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Konstantaras
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fountzilas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016190:Carboplatin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000008:administration & dosage; D018450:Disease Progression; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D015251:Epirubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012074:Remission Induction; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D015251:Epirubicin; D003520:Cyclophosphamide; D016190:Carboplatin