title: Dose-dense therapy is of benefit in primary treatment of ovarian cancer? In favor.
abstract: Paclitaxel and carboplatin given every 3 weeks is the current standard treatment in first-line chemotherapy regimens for ovarian cancer. The concept of 'dose-dense therapy' is based on the hypothesis that a shortening interval of the doses of cytotoxic agents will be more effective for tumor-cell kill. Recently published phase III trials in breast cancer have shown that dose-dense weekly paclitaxel improves response and survival. The Japanese Gynecologic Oncology Group reported a phase III study comparing the conventional 3-weekly paclitaxel and carboplatin schedule versus dose-dense weekly paclitaxel and 3-weekly carboplatin for advanced epithelial ovarian cancer, fallopian tube cancer or primary peritoneal cancer. The progression-free survival, as the primary endpoint of this study, was significantly prolonged with the dose-dense treatment [28 versus 17.2 months; hazard ratio (HR): 0.71; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.58-0.88; P=0.0015], as was the overall survival at 3 years (72.1% versus 65.1%; HR 0.75; 95% CI: 0.57-0.98; P=0.03). Dose-dense weekly paclitaxel plus carboplatin represents a new treatment option in women with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Nippon Medical School, Musashikosugi Hospital, 1-396 Kosugi-machi, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki-City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. nkatsuma@nms.ac.jp
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Katsumata
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D016190:Carboplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000077216:Carcinoma, Ovarian Epithelial; D017326:Clinical Trials, Phase III as Topic; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009375:Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D017239:Paclitaxel / Q000008:administration & dosage; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D016190:Carboplatin; D017239:Paclitaxel