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Gemcitabine Plus Carboplatin Benefits Women with Recurrent Ovarian Cancer Reprinted from the NCI Cancer Bulletin, vol. 3/no. 37, Sept. 26, 2006 (see the current issue).
A phase III randomized trial has shown a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival for women with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer given gemcitabine with carboplatin compared with carboplatin alone, without any significant differences in quality of life. The results, published early online September 18, 2006, by the Journal of Clinical Oncology, come from an international collaborative trial comprising investigators from Europe, Canada, and the United States (see the journal abstract).
Investigators randomly assigned 356 women with recurrent ovarian cancer whose tumors had previously responded to first-line therapy with a platinum-based regimen to receive either carboplatin alone or carboplatin plus gemcitabine, and compared progression-free survival, side effects, and overall quality of life.
Though more high-grade hematologic (blood-related) side effects and a greater incidence of alopecia (hair loss) were seen in patients taking carboplatin and gemcitabine, few patients in either arm discontinued treatment. The median progression-free survival was 8.6 months for patients taking carboplatin and gemcitabine, and 5.8 months for patients taking carboplatin alone. The benefit provided by the addition of gemcitabine persisted even after adjusting the data for other factors that could affect progression-free survival. Quality-of-life questionnaires showed no statistically significant differences between the two groups of patients.
"Gemcitabine plus carboplatin represents a new treatment option for patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer," stated the authors. Such new therapeutic regimens are badly needed, they explained, because cumulative neurotoxicity limits the reuse of taxane, and platinum combinations often are used as first-line therapy in the disease.
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