Phase II study of JM8, a new platinum analog, in advanced ovarian carcinoma

A phase II study of JM8, an analog of cisplatin, has been carried out in 36 patients with advanced ovarian carcinoma. Thirty-three of these patients had recurrent carcinoma and had been heavily pretreated, either with cytotoxic drugs alone (28 patients) or with cytotoxic drugs and radiotherapy (five patients). All patients had previously received cisplatin, either alone or as part of a combination, and some of them had previously been treated with as many as four different chemotherapy regimens. In addition, three patients with stage III ovarian carcinoma were treated with JM8 as first-line therapy. Twenty-eight of the 33 pretreated patients were evaluable for response, and five partial and two complete remissions were achieved. Of the seven responders, four had previously been shown to be completely resistant to cisplatin, and a fifth had initially responded to, but subsequently relapsed, while receiving cisplatin. Renal, aural, and neurotoxic effects were less than would have been expected with cisplatin, but hematologic toxic effects were common, with a wbc count of less than 2000 X 10(9)/L recorded in six patients, and a platelet count of less than 50,000 X 10(9)/L recorded in eight patients.