Docetaxel in combination with carboplatin for chemo-naive patients with epithelial ovarian cancer

We conducted a study of docetaxel-carboplatin combination therapy to confirm the efficacy and toxicity in chemotherapy-naive patients with ovarian cancer. Docetaxel 70 mg/m2 and carboplatin (area under the concentration-vs.-time curve of 5) were administered consecutively on day 1 of a 21-day cycle for five planned cycles in chemo-naive patients with the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage IC to IV ovarian cancer with or without successful cytoreductive surgery at staging laparotomy. Twenty-six patients (median age, 53 years; range, 34-76 years) were enrolled into this trial at Niigata University Hospital. The major toxicity with this regimen was neutropenia. The incidence of grade 3 and 4 neutropenia were 27% (7/26) and 69% (18/26), respectively. However, the neutropenia was brief and reversible with G-CSF support. Nausea/emesis, fatigue, arthralgia/myalgias, and alopecia were the most common nonhematologic toxicities, in which no grade 3 or 4 toxicity was observed. Neurotoxicity was infrequently observed. Nine of 11 assessable patients responded to the regimen. We conclude that the combination of carboplatin and docetaxel seems to be highly active in ovarian cancer with the major toxicity of neutropenia, and the extremely low incidence of clinically significant neurotoxicity. Randomized controlled clinical trials should be conducted to define a role for this regimen in ovarian cancer.