Combination chemotherapy of ovarian carcinoma with cisplatinum and treosulfan--a phase II study

Twenty-one patients with advanced ovarian carcinoma were treated with a combination of cisplatinum and treosulfan. The overall response rate by clinical and ultrasound assessment was 86%, but ultrasound was less optimistic in assessing 'completeness' of response (48% compared with 67% clinically). The median actuarial survival was 21 months. There was a 54.9% probability of survival at 43 months in those patients with a complete response and a median survival of 15 months in patients with a partial response. The data suggest that while short-term survival may depend upon the extent of residual disease, longer-term survival is determined by response to chemotherapy. The only toxicity of note was haematological.