Salvage treatment with docetaxel for recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer

We investigated the clinical usefulness and toxicity of salvage treatment with docetaxel (70 mg/m2) infused at 3-week intervals in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer.

Retrospectively, we reviewed the clinical records of 24 patients diagnosed with recurrent ovarian cancer who had received the salvage treatment.

A total of 128 courses (median, 5.5 courses; range, 2-8 courses) were administered to the 24 patients. The mean number of prior chemotherapy courses in the patients was 16.4 (range, 4-35 courses); they had already been treated heavily. The tumor response was evaluable at the end of the treatment in 20 patients, with the overall response rate being 15.0%. Using the criterion of serum carbohydrate antigen (CA)125 level, the response rate was 13.0%. By the time of the final docetaxel treatment, all 24 patients had relapsed and 19 had died of the disease. The median progression-free interval was 4.6 months (range, 1.3-7.8 months), and the median overall survival time was 13.7 months (range, 2.1-27.0 months). While hematological toxicity was not severe, 20.8% of patients experienced grade 3 asthenia/fatigue, and 5 patients refused further treatments with docetaxel because of this toxicity.

Salvage treatment using docetaxel (70 mg/m2) was somewhat effective for recurrent ovarian cancer, although severe asthenia/fatigue was frequently observed. Docetaxel provides sufficient palliation of disease-related symptoms and some improvement in the length of life in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer, when asthenia/fatigue is mild.