[Paclitaxel plus carboplatin in ovarian cancer-comparison of adverse effects between monthly and weekly...

Adverse effects of first-line combination chemotherapy performed with paclitaxel (PTX) and carboplatin (CBDCA) (TJ regimen) on 15 ovarian cancer patients who had had no prior chemotherapy with cisplatin (CDDP) were reviewed retrospectively according to National Cancer Institute common toxicity criteria. The M group (M) consisted of 7 patients treated with a total of 45 courses of the M-TJ regimen. Every 3-4 weeks, PTX was administered as a 3-hour infusion at the average dose level of 175 mg/m2/course on day 1 and CBDCA (targeted AUC = 6) was also administered on day 1. The W group (W) consisted of 10 patients who received a total of 49 courses of the W-TJ regimen. They were treated with PTX (80 mg/m2, 1 h, average dose level = 203 mg/m2/course) on day 1, 8 and 15, and with CBDCA (targeted AUC = 5) on day 1 every 4 weeks. Adverse events with grade 3 or above hematologic toxicity were oligochromemia (M: 24.4%, W: 22.4%), leukopenia (M: 55.6%, W: 40.8%), neutropenia (M: 84.4%, W: 61.2%) and thrombocytopenia (M: 17.8%, W: 8.2%). Grade 3 or above nonhematologic toxicity was not found in the W group, and anorexia (2.2%), nausea (2.2%), diarrhea (2.2%) and arrhythmia (2.2%) were developed only in the M group patients. Toxicity grades for neutropenia, arthralgia, myalgia and neuropathy were significantly lower in the W group. Based on the collected data, the W-TJ regimen is considered to be more effective than the M-TJ regimen for reducing the grade and occurrence of adverse events in ovarian cancer patients.