[Monochemotherapeutic treatment of advanced stage III and IV ovarian cancer]

45 patients with ovarian cancer stage III and IV were treated with melphalan, which was injected intravenously over a time period of six hours. None of the patients had been treated previously with chemotherapeutic drugs. 30 of the patients suffered from ovarian cancer stage III, and 17 of this group went into remission which in three cases lasted longer than twelve months. Six of 15 patients suffering from stage IV ovarian cancer went into remission as well. In comparing monochemotherapy with polychemotherapy, which is applied intravenously as well over a much longer time interval we found approximately the same remission rate. Because of the lower toxicity in the treatment with melphalan and the short period of application, there is a significant advantage to using monochemotherapy rather than polychemotherapy for stage III and IV ovarian cancer.