Intraperitoneal cisplatin in the treatment of refractory or recurrent advanced ovarian carcinoma

Twenty-three patients with advanced ovarian cancer were entered into a phase II trial of intraperitoneal cisplatin (60 mg/m2 with escalation to 90 mg/m2 per course). All patients had either minimal residual disease after systemic chemotherapy or a recurrence after attainment of a clinically or surgically complete response. After a median follow-up of 3 years, 12 patients had died and of the 11 remaining alive 4 were without recurrence. Survival ranged between 4 and 48+ months with a median of 30 months. A definite survival advantage with this treatment modality does not appear evident and needs to be demonstrated by randomized studies.