Salvage chemotherapy using gemcitabine for taxane/platinum-resistant recurrent ovarian cancer: a single institutional...

The purpose of this study was to report on the safety and efficacy of gemcitabine used as salvage chemotherapy for ovarian cancer.

From January 2002 to October 2011, 27 patients were treated with gemcitabine for platinum-resistant recurrent ovarian cancer. Gemcitabine (800 mg/m(2)) was given on days 1, 8, and 15 of every 28 days. The patients' medical records were retrospectively reviewed.

All 27 patients had previously received paclitaxel/carboplatin doublet and their disease had become platinum-resistant. The median number of previous chemotherapy regimens was 2 (range 1-7). A total of 114 cycles of single-agent gemcitabine were administered, with a median of 3 (range 1-10). No complete responses were observed. Partial response (PR) was observed in five patients (18.5%). Eight patients demonstrated stable disease (SD). The median duration of response for 5 responders was 4 months (range 2-6 months). The median survival time was 15 months. Patients with PR or SD (n=13) had significantly better survival compared with the group with progressive disease (n=14) (p=0.03, by univariate analysis). In addition, multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis revealed that responses to gemcitabine were a significant factor for survival (hazard ratio=0.08, 95% confidence interval=0.0138 to 0.5614, p=0.01). Cases with hematological toxicity included 10 patients (37.0%) with grade 3/4 neutropenia, 3 patients (11.1%) with grade 3 thrombocytopenia, and 3 patients (11.1%) with grade 3 anemia. Non-hematological toxicity was well-tolerated.

Gemcitabine (800 mg/m(2)) used for recurrent ovarian cancer possesses a modest activity and a well-tolerated toxicity.