Prolonged pegylated liposomal doxorubicin treatment for recurrent pelvic cancers: a feasibility study

We conducted a proof of concept study evaluating prolonged treatment with pegylated liposomal doxorubicin for recurrent ovarian, tubal and peritoneal carcinoma. Thirteen consecutive patients received an average of 22.6 cycles of pegylated liposomal doxorubicin, with an average cumulative dose of 1409 mg/m(2) . Progression-free survival at 18 months was 61.5%, and was longer than the previous progression-free survival in 10 of the 13 patients. Overall 5-year survival was 78.8%. Despite prolonged use and relatively large cumulative doses of pegylated liposomal doxorubicin, most of the patients had mild to moderate side-effects, none of the patients had detectable cardio-toxic side-effects, and a positive impact on the performance status was noticed. Thus, in our group of patients, continued pegylated liposomal doxorubicin treatment was associated with a longer progression-free interval and allowed improved performance status with manageable toxicity.