[Paclitaxel/carboplatin in first line treatment of advanced ovarian carcinoma]

Surgery and chemotherapy are the cornerstones of therapy for advanced ovarian cancer. Further improvement of treatment results can be expected from new drugs that act differently from cisplatin. Paclitaxel is one of those drugs. Evidence from several clinical trials has currently established two roles of paclitaxel: salvage therapy for patients who are clinically platinum resistant and front line therapy in combination with cisplatin in newly diagnosed patients with advanced disease. The efficacy of the paclitaxel dose and schedule used in the GOG trial 111 has not been proven and thus needs further evaluation before it should be used in common practice. Continued clinical research in Germany focuses on several questions including 1) the determination of the relative merits of carboplatin and cisplatin in combination with paclitaxel, and 2) the potential role of paclitaxel/platinum combinations in limited disease patients. Answering these questions may help to develop new meaningful approaches in the treatment of ovarian cancer.