Phase III data on Caelyx in ovarian cancer

Impressive responses to pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (Doxil/Caelyx) in pretreated ovarian cancer patients during phase I studies led to a phase II study in platinum and taxane failures. A 26% objective response rate was obtained in this trial and this was confirmed by further phase II studies. The stage was set for a phase III trial in comparison with topotecan, the drug that had become standard in the salvage treatment of patients who were platinum-refractory or -resistant. The completed trial indicates equivalence of results in terms of response rates, time to treatment failure and survival. Differences exist in the toxicity spectrum and in subset analysis according to platinum resistance. On this basis, Caelyx is being positioned as part of chemotherapeutic regimens in first-line phase III trials.