[A case of stage III ovarian carcinoma successfully treated with oral etoposide]

A 49-year-old woman with stage III ovarian cancer (undifferentiated adenocarcinoma), who refused combination chemotherapy for postoperative residual tumor, were successfully treated with daily oral etoposide in the outpatient clinic. The etoposide (50 mg/day) was first given orally and then a dose of etoposide was decreased to 25 mg/day because of alopecia and gastrointestinal toxicity. After seven months of treatment, the complete remission was confirmed by the second look laparotomy, and cytology of peritoneal surface revealed no signs of adenocarcinoma. This case suggests that daily oral etoposide therapy might be the alternative as a first-line and second-line chemotherapy of ovarian cancer in the outpatient clinic.